


Bound By Light

by DragonLord



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Gen, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-03
Updated: 2015-01-03
Packaged: 2018-03-05 03:55:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 25,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3104636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonLord/pseuds/DragonLord
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Destiny steps into the lives of siblings Rachel & Bryan the day they discovered they are chosen as Keyblade Wielders. Under the training of Sorcerer Yen Sid & the wizard Merlin, the siblings venture into the worlds to restore the balance of darkness & light. Are their hearts & teamwork strong enough for the challenge? Story runs before and parallel to Sora's in KH1. Act 1 of 3</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

_Things have been put into motion that cannot be undone. As I am uncertain of the future I have chosen to chronicle the journeys of two young keyblade wielders. Given time, I believe they have what it takes to become keyblade masters._

_Rachel and her brother Bryan were born in Radiant Garden. At one might expect, they knew little of the worlds that existed outside their own. Stories of other worlds were just whispers from old legends and the sparkle of wonder in a child’s dream._

_Needless to say a world is much bigger than its main city. The city of Radiant Garden, still known as Hollow Bastian at this time, this is of course what it was called before darkness drained the beauty and life from the great city, had begun to stagnate. The behind the scenes studies of hearts and long standing secret plots had slowly taken their toll. Slow enough few residents truly realized what was happening. This droll lifestyle pushed the siblings to make their own fun._

_Journeying far beyond the city limits to explore, the two made a discovery that would change their lives forever. After a few days hiking the two took shelter in a mysterious cave. It was evident immediately the cave was old. Very old. And it had a strange, eerie presence about it. In the back, a long tunnel led down into dark, unknown depths. On the walls, images were scratched into the stone. Although there were no words to give details to the story, the siblings had a pretty good understanding of the tale._

_A long time ago a great battle had been fought and led up to an image of what looked like a field, but instead of grass or flowers, the filled consisted of keys. The key seemed to be a reoccurring image through the story. The end of the tunnel opened up into a small, but high-ceilinged cavern with just a pinprick of light trickling down from above. The light shone on something incredible._

_A key_

_A long glistening key with a handle._

_It had been smashed into the ground where the end was stuck in the stone. There were images on these walls too. Going around the room told the story of how the key got there. This is the best the siblings could put together._

_Some time ago a great battle had been fought with these key-shaped weapons. What they were fighting against or fighting for was not made clear. Amidst the fighting, one man fled, traveling across the stars to leave the battle far behind. Overwhelmed with guilt, he found a place of isolation. He left his weapon behind and left forever, his heart shattered with shame._

_On the ground by the key a short message had been scribbled on the stone._

I have disgraced myself and my comrades. I am no longer worthy of wielding the Keyblade. Perhaps I never should have been given the honor at all. I can only pray that one day I may have a successor with a heart stronger and purer than mine. I now give up this world and hope Kingdom Hearts will accept a heart as cowardly as mine.

_Understandably curious, Bryan tried to pull the keyblade from its stone lodging. As hard as he tried it wouldn’t budge. Rachel’s attempt fared no better. Determined to liberate this mysterious relic from its stone prison, both grabbed the handle to pull it free. But before they could give it one proper yank, something incredible happened. The blade came loose but it had split in two!_

_What exactly happened can only be left to speculation. Perhaps splitting in two was the only way the Keyblade could give itself to two equally worthy wielders. Maybe it had split because the siblings combined hearts had the strength, courage and light necessary to become keyblade wielders. So long as they remained strong together, the blade was not actually in two.  Why or how this happened is a mystery to me. Traditionally only Masters can pass along wielder ship of a Keyblade. But I must remind myself that at one time there were no masters to hand down knowledge. Someone had to be first to begin the legacy. And although my knowledge of magic, history and the Keyblades is vast, I would be foolish to believe I have been privileged to all there is to know. Although I do wonder if the previous wielder’s message holds a clue,_

_“_ I can only pray that one day I may have a successor with a heart stronger and purer than mine.”

_Perhaps that was the consent from a Master and it took until Rachel and Bryan found it end the waiting for a worthy heart._

_Regardless of the specifics, fate had intervened that day. Within a very short time I fear the floods of darkness will race across the stars. Devious plans will upset the balance of darkness of light and once again. Hearts will be tested. Hearts will be blackened. The worlds will need many heroes to calm this dark storm of chaos and pain._

* * *

 

_I had been astounded to hear the whispers of a lost Keyblade. From the heights of my tower I could sense the heartbeat of a veteran Keyblade of the keyblade war. But something was wrong. This keyblade had two distinct heartbeats? How could that be? What could awaken a single sleeping keyblade so it touched two hearts?_

_Curious as I was concerned, I traveled to a far off world to request a messenger be sent to investigate the anomaly and report back. The swiftest messenger was chosen and immediately crossed all boundaries to Hollow Bastion. It didn’t take him long to find what he was looking for. On the outskirts of the city he found a young woman with long hair and a tall young man fighting back black creatures from the city limits. There weren’t many creatures and they weren’t very strong. Which was a blessing. Neither the boy nor girl looked to him like they were very skilled fighters. Their strategy appeared little more than understanding that hitting the enemy enough times with the end of the weapon made it disappear._

_I could hardly believe what the messenger told me upon his return. **Two** new keyblade wielders? And they were fighting Heartless in Hollow Bastion? Things were spiraling faster than I could have anticipated. Hearts always contained darkness so there would never be a time when shadows  wouldn’t exist. But after they keyblade war, a calm had passed over all the worlds. The darkness was weak and stayed to the shadows. Something must have been set in motion to make the darkness suddenly become so bold as to attack a populated area in daylight._

_I instructed the messenger to convince the children to return with him to my tower. I needed answers and if they had been chosen wielders, they would need an explanation if they were to be the worlds first line of defense._

_Needless to say, Rachel and Bryan received quite a shock when a strange blue man with wings on his heels appeared out of nowhere. He introduced himself as Hermes. He told them he was from another world far away from Hollow Bastion and could take them to other worlds too. If they wanted to learn more about the other worlds and especially the mysterious weapons they wielded, he could take them to someone with all the answers. The decision did not take long to make._

* * *

 

_I couldn’t help but shake my head a little when Rachel and Bryan first came to my tower. They truly were inexperienced in the art of combat. When they entered the tower I allowed a few Heartless to enter to see how the two would do in a fight. At the time all they really had going for them was potential. They had no battle skills at all. But given time that would all change._

_Once we had been properly introduced I had a better understanding of the split keyblade. Rachel and Bryan were brother and sister as well as good friends. Their hearts had a strong bond to one another and their combined strength made the keyblade whole. I have expressed my theories as to how this was possible but I have never heard of such a thing happen before so the naked truth of the phenomenon may never be revealed._

* * *

 

_Over the next few weeks Rachel and Bryan went through proper training fit for future keyblade masters. They sparred against each other all the time. If they could fight with no hesitation against each other they could fight with full strength against a real foe._

_My good friend Merlin agreed to train them in the art of magic. Nearly every day they spent time at Merlin’s cottage to learn new techniques in magic and apply those skills in the forest surrounding his home. New challenges were given all the time as the siblings became more skilled. Regardless of the challenges of the day, evenings always ended at the tower with a warm drink and a story. Stories of other worlds, stories of the past, of the unversed, of Heartless, Nobodies and of course about the keyblades and the keyblade war._

_They weren’t the only keyblade warriors I’d ever trained. But I feel a special connection to these siblings. Although I never had a family of my own, I believe this is what it feels like to have grandchildren. Perhaps it is only because I have not had an apprentice in such a long time. Giving up the title of Master was my own choosing but there were no more Masters to train them. I have accepted them calling me Master._

_Either way I cannot let my feelings hold them back from what they are meant to do._

_Again I have felt stirrings among the worlds. I have sensed that somewhere at least one world has fallen to darkness. I knew I would need to send them out soon to new worlds to combat these threats. The day after I felt the disturbance I bestowed Rachel and Bryan with a great gift, two charms with the emblem of Kingdom Hearts. It was a keychain that had not taken shape or power. They would need stronger weapons if they were to have any chance in other worlds. Once they took the charms, both immediately took shape to what could be found in their hearts._

_Bryan has a strong love of music and prefers to fight with brute strength over magic. His charm became a tiny blue and red drum. This transformed is keyblade into the Bass Blade, a forceful, long-range weapon infused with the power of music._

_Rachel has a compassionate heart and has an incredible knack for magic the likes I have never before seen. Her charm took the form of a winged star. Her keyblade became Moonlit Majesty, a jeweled keyblade with an endless reservoir of magic._

_Since I have no vessel I can give them to travel between worlds, I have asked Hermes to journey with them for a time. And neither of them are strong enough yet to transform their keyblades into vessels to travel between worlds. The young warriors know their task. They must protect as many worlds as possible from falling into darkness. Worse yet, I believe this is just the calm before the storm. I sent them out on their adventure today. They know they can return anytime. I know they have strong hearts but I hope I haven’t sent them into battle too soon._


	2. Neverland

Bryan could hardly believe it. He was standing on a new world. He’d felt similarly when Hermes took him and his sister to Master Yen Sid’s tower. The wonder of something so spectacular was nothing short of amazing. Bryan hoped he would always feel that same sense of wonder no matter how many new worlds he visited.

“Kay kids, I gotta be getting back to Olympus for a spell.” Hermes said, fluttering about five feet above the ground. “Head on back to this spot and gimme a shout when you’re ready to move on someplace else.”

 He gave a quick wave and disappeared back to his world.

“So this is Neverland.” Bryan said, surveying the world around him.

Hermes had left them on a mountain ledge overlooking an island. Immediately he could tell this world was special. From so high up he could see the island was divided into four quadrants, one for every season. He and Rachel were in the Autumn quadrant. Travel down the mountain was as beautiful as it was easy. The trees were dressed with gold and red and open areas of land were carpeted with fall flowers.

Rachel skipped around with the wonderment of a child. She couldn’t stop giggling with joy.

“This place is incredible.” She said, unable to curb her smile. “I say we move here once the adventure is over.”

Bryan was about to respond but a noise stopped him. He grabbed his sisters arm to stop her skipping. Shadows shifted among the trees accompanied by the familiar sound of Heartless materializing.

“Don’t lay claim to any real estate just yet.”

“I’m having that very thought.” Rachel agreed.

The two summoned their keyblades as a group of a dozen or so impish looking Heartless surrounded them.

Between the two of them the battle was over as soon as it began. This was in part because they both had long range weapons and partly because Rachel used Thunder a lot. They waited a moment to make sure there were no more Heartless around. Confident the threat had passed, the duo pressed on.

“I wonder what kind of people live here.” Rachel thought aloud.

“If this island is even populated at all. Bryan replied.

“That would suck if our first solo adventure was to a place where the only other beings for company were the Heartless.”

“Might make finding the keyhole easier.” Bryan said. “Especially if we’re not alone and the natives aren’t friendly.”

Oh the irony that would later follow that statement.

They came close to the winter quadrant and Bryan motioned to explore that area last. After all, why freeze when it wasn’t necessary? Hollow Bastion never got very cold and snow had only fallen a few times in the city’s history.

All across the Autumn quadrant Heartless popped in and out but were not very strong or hard to get rid of. But the sudden appearance of the Heartless helped Rachel and Bryan sharpen their awareness skills. However, their awareness skills weren’t honed enough to keep them completely out of trouble, as they would soon find out.

The transition between Autumn and Summer was stranger than anything Bryan could have imagined and much different to the view from the ground than it was from above. It was as though someone had drawn an invisible line defining the two seasons. On one side everything was gold, reds, oranges and faded greens and the other side was lush emerald green. Even the branches that crossed the line were split between seasons. Rachel stood right on the invisible line and looked up at the mixed branches then at her feet, one foot in each season.

“This is really weird, but so totally awesome! I bet standing between Spring and Winter is even stranger.”

The trees changed from deciduous trees dressed for the season to primarily conifers. Most of them would have made perfect Christmas trees.

“Ahhh!” Rachel sighed after a deep inhale through the nose. “Pine.” She inhaled again. “Everything smells so fresh.”

“You know I have to take your word for that.” Bryan replied.

“I know,” Rachel said. “I know that statement’s lost on you but I felt it needed to be said.”

Bryan smirked as they pressed on. She knew talking about anything regarding the sense of smell would be mostly talking to herself. He hadn’t had a sense of smell since he was six. Rachel would sometimes comment about how sad it must be not to smell the forest after a rain or freshly baked bread. Bryan really didn’t care. In his mind, he couldn’t miss what he couldn’t remember having.

“I wonder if the Heartless will be different in each season.” Rachel mused aloud.

“That wouldn’t make much sense. Why would th-aahey!”

Suddenly the world turned upside down as Bryan stepped in a trap and was hanging from a tree by his foot.

“Oh my gosh! Are you okay?!”

“I’m ok. I’m fine! Just get me down.” Bryan said, his arms flailing a bit. “No! Wait! Stop the spinning first.”

“Alright, hold on.” Rachel grabbed her brother by his vest to stop the swaying. After Bryan was relatively still Rachel followed the rope to its tether. “Ok, brace yourself. I won’t guarantee this will be smooth.”

With one hand she held the rope and the other held her keyblade. The keyblade tapped the rope and sparked with fire. As the rope burned, Rachel grabbed it with both hands and braced herself for when the rope snapped. The plan kinda worked. Bryan didn’t get hurt but the landing was far from graceful.

Bryan picked himself up and brushed himself off. “Who would put a trap in the middle of the woods!?” he snapped, very annoyed.

“Probably a _hunter_.” Rachel answered. “That at least proves this place is inhabited.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” Bryan huffed, embarrassed and grumpy he had been the one to set off the trap.

The quadrants were much bigger when traveling on foot than viewing from a mountain. They found a deer path and followed that through the woods. Bryan could feel his bad mood start to fade, especially after being able to beat the daylights out of several dozen Heartless. But he did have a twinge of annoyance that wasn’t allowed to dissipate because of Rachel being so twitchy all of a sudden. Finally he couldn’t take it anymore.

“What are you looking for!” He said sharply, moreso than he meant to. “You haven’t stopped looking behind us. It’s like you’ve got a nervous tick.”

“Don’t you get the feeling like we’re being followed?” She asked, looking around again.

“It’s probably just the Heartless.”

“Maybe,” She replied quietly.

But Bryan could hear in her voice she didn’t believe her answer. After a short while he could feel it too, like someone was staring at the back of his head. But he couldn’t tell if he truly felt like he was being watched or if his sisters paranoia had rubbed off.

“Did that tree just move?”

Now he was irritated.

“What are you talking about?”

“I turned around and I swear the tree I saw a second ago got closer.”

“We’re in a forest. All the trees look the same. You’re just paranoid. Now cut it out. What would Master Yen Sid say if you’re always this worried?”

“It’s not paranoia when you’re actually being followed. And I’m only worrying because I have reason to. I’m telling you, there’s something in these woods that isn’t a Heartless”

“But you’re overlooking one thing. Trees can’t move on their own!”

“We were left on this island by a blue man who can fly after receiving magical combat training by two genuine sorcerers. One of them has a talking owl. I think moving trees shouldn’t be too far a stretch.”

Bryan rolled his eyes, exasperated. He hated it when his sister made points that were hard to refute.

“Alright then. I’ll bite. What makes you think the tree moved?”

“That little pine tree with the bent top branch was behind those small bushes a minute ago and now it’s in front. I think it’s following us.”

“Following us? _Really_? Why would a tree do that anyway? Doesn’t it have enough tree friends in a forest?”

“I’ll ignore the sarcasm because I know I’m right.”

“You want me to prove nothing’s wrong? Fine. I will.”

Bryan walked right up to the tree, looked it up and down, circled it and looked back to Rachel. He shrugged in ‘ _see?_ ’ sort of way that.  Rachel remained where she’d been standing with her arms crossed, still waiting for her suspicions to be disproven beyond all doubt.

“Fine.” Bryan muttered. He stood by the side of the tree, summoned the Bass Blade and gave the tree a few hard prods. A few needles fell to the ground but nothing else.

“Are you convinced now? Or would you feel better if I set it on fire? Unless you think it has feelings-.”

“There! Right there! That bottom branch just moved when you said that.”

“That only proves a squirrel lives there.” Bryan felt a twinge of frustration beginning to build. They’d wasted too much time arguing over a dumb tree. He hooked the teeth of the keyblade under the branch she’d indicated and lifted it. “See? Happy now?”

Rachel stared at the branch for several long seconds. Slowly she uncrossed her arms, looked Bryan squarely in the eye and shook her head while speaking in monotone.

“I guess you’re right. The twitch must have been from a squirrel. Trees can’t move on their own. I’ve just been a little on edge.”

Bryan dropped the branch and his shoulders slumped in a you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me kind of way.

As close siblings he and Rachel had an understanding of several forms of nonverbal communication. Her looking at him like that, speaking so dully and shaking her head while saying something positive all added up to her knowing something that needed immediate attention. Most likely that ‘something’ would not be good.

Rachel twitched her head back, signaling for Bryan to come to her. When he was at her side they both turned and kept walking, slowly and carefully.

“What did you see?” He asked quietly through the corner of his mouth.

“A pair of feet.” Rachel muttered back. She looked over her shoulder again.

“Did it move?”

“No.”

Bryan breathed in relief. Maybe whomever had been following them would give up if they suspected they’d been found out.

“There’s more than one.”

 _Oh great_. Bryan thought. Part of him wanted some kind of confirming detail, but he also knew the more they talked the more likely they were to obviously give away the fact they knew they had a pursuer. A decision had to be made. After walking casually side by side for several yards he whispered,

“Run.”

The reaction was instantaneous. The forest erupted with shouts and battle cries. Bryan looked over his shoulder to view the pursuers and nearly ran into a tree after doing a double-take. The trees themselves were charging at them! Only when he glimpsed one or two had red-skinned arms did the image make sense. A wonderment flitted across his mind as he ran. Why would anyone leave their disguise on after they knew they’d been discovered? He shook the thought from his mind. Of all things to be curious or worried about that should not have been one of them.

“Bryan!” Rachel summoned her keyblade. “Jump!”

He did without question. Rachel did the same and brought the power of Wind around them. The swirling gust gave them a gentle push that made running less exhausting and helped them gain distance. Aided by the Wind they quickly widened the gap between them and the screaming trees. Before long the forest began to thin and opened up to a field of tall grass. Willing to try anything to lose the entourage the two charged into the tall grass. Only a few yards in Rachel dispelled the Wind. It left a much more obvious track to follow than two people running. The grass was tall and thick but still not hard to run through. Bryan kept glancing to his right to make sure he could still see his sister. The last thing either of them needed was to get separated then picked off. He could see a large dark boulder up ahead. Once they reached it they hid on the other side. Only then did they dare to catch their breath.

“This won’t work.” Bryan said, trying to keep his panting as quiet as possible.  “They have to know behind a rock is the first place we’d hide.”

Rachel nodded, also trying to catch her breath. “We’ll have to fight out way out, wont we?”

There didn’t seem to be another option. The field could stretch for miles and the deeper they went the greater the chance of getting separated. To top it off, whoever those people chasing them were probably knew the area well enough they couldn’t escape anyway. It was then Bryan noticed something that really made his stomach sink. The yelling had stopped. Rachel had noticed it too.

“There’s no way they gave up just like that. We’re never going to know they’re coming, will we?”

“That might not be true. Maybe following us is just too much of a hassle in the tall grass.” Bryan said, trying to make himself believe himself. “Or they know there’s little chance of us getting out again and chose not to bother.”

“Or they know there’s something in here they’d rather not face.”

“What makes you say tha-?”

 _Oh no_. He could feel it too. A swell of darkness that had gone unnoticed until just then.

The second the rock behind them grunted and moved Bryan could practically hear Master Yen Sid’s voice calling them off for not being vigilant. He and Rachel jumped away as the Heartless stood up and unfurled its huge frame. It looked like a heavily armored abstract human with huge shoulders, a small waist and short legs with a rhinoceros helmet. It turned and scowled at them with beady yellow eyes. With enormous fists it pounded the ground, challenging them to fight.

Instantly the Bass Blade was in his hands. He knew he shouldn’t be surprised that Heartless could come in all sizes but this thing had to be at least eleven feet tall. He had always been pretty tall so having to look up so high to look something in the eye was daunting.

The Heartless made the first move.

 


	3. Neverland: After The Fight

As soon as a strong hit yielded a great flash of light from the Heartless Bryan knew the fight was over. He and Rachel jumped away, blades at the ready just in case. But it was unnecessary. The Heartless stumbled backward, waved its huge arms slowly then froze. As it did, light flickered off of it and a pale, semi-transparent crystal-y heart floated away and the Heartless disappeared.

Even though the Heartless was gone, Bryan didn’t feel comfortable letting his guard down just yet. He wasn’t facing her but Bryan could feel Rachel’s tension too. Thirty seconds, nothing. One minute, nothing. He lowered his keyblade finally confident the threat had passed. Rachel had done the same. The grass had been flattened in a wide circle from the fighting. Everything was calm. The tall grass barely rustled. Nothing would have suggested an intense battle had taken place only moments ago.

Bryan hoped there weren’t a lot more of those. This trip would be a pain in the neck if the native heartless were all like that. It was a little slow but it had a really good back-hand. Not like wishing for easier Heartless would just make it happen. Wishing for the easy just meant a lack of character. Besides, it was too early in the quest to complain about things being hard. At least there had only been one and it didn’t have laser vison or something.

A soft breeze tickled the tips of the tall grass. Looking around at the standing grass while standing amongst the trampled felt like being in a pit with high walls. Despite being younger than his sister, Bryan was taller but still had to jump to see over the grass.

“Now what?” Rachel asked. “If we keep trying to get through the grass we could get lost or meet more of those Heartless. Who knows how many of those rocks aren’t actually rocks. If we go back,”

“We risk being pursued again.” Bryan finished.

“And whoever they were, they weren’t Heartless.”

That was the hard part. If it was a stampede of Heartless then that would be simple. Just beat the crap out of them until they stop showing up. Human enemies would be an entirely different challenge. If these people didn’t like visitors, that would be a problem. If they had unfamiliar customs, that would be a problem. If they were just flat-out unfriendly, nothing could be done about it but it would still be a problem. And Master Yen Sid did say all worlds operated differently and its people could have a wide assortment of abilities. Bryan never doubted his master’s wisdom but only now, facing a potential problem did he really understand it.

Suddenly Bryan realized they weren’t alone. He could feel eyes watching him. Heartless? Bryan’s grip tightened around his Keyblade. No, Heartless left a certain atmosphere. Through the yellow grass he could see red-skinned figures staring at them. He was about to raise his Keyblade but he saw Rachel lower hers. Then he sensed what she obviously had. There was no malice in the atmosphere. These were just people and they weren’t intent on attack. In fact, they slowly began to come out of the grass looking quite astonished. After they fully processed what they had just witnessed, the entire group started yelling and hollering with triumph.

The sudden screaming startled Bryan at first as well as when they began to dance around him and his sister. But at least it was clear now these people meant them no harm. After the Indians settled down a bit, they insisted Bryan and Rachel come back to their camp to meet the chief. They spoke a little strangely. Most had deep, bear-like voices that were hard to understand but in the end the message got across. Bryan agreed to go with them and the Indians cheered again.

 


	4. Neverland: The Indian Camp

Rachel and Bryan were escorted back to the Indian camp like heroes. When they could see the camp their escorts started jumping around, hollering and dancing. There was a commotion in the camp as the other Indians came out to see what the hoo-ha was all about.

Rachel couldn’t withhold her smile. This was fun. Getting into the mood she skipped along with the escort and clapped a little too. The rest of the tribe gathered to see the visitors their tribesmen were bringing into their midst. Thankfully Rachel could sense a more curious atmosphere than a hostile or distrusting one. Finally they were brought before the man who was obviously the chief. He was tall with paint on his face and wore a large feathered headdress. Before him the escort became very quiet. The Chief carefully looked over the strangely dressed strangers for a moment.

“How!” He said sharply and raised his hand in greeting.

The escort copied his motion and replied with ‘How!’.  Not sure what else to do and not wanting to appear rude Rachel and Bryan quickly did the same. One Indian in the escort party gave a message to the Chief in sign language. Rachel figured it was good news about them, especially when he mimicked using a weapon in a sword-like way. The Chief raised an eyebrow at the braves’ story, but his face was so stoic Rachel couldn’t tell if that meant he was impressed or he didn’t believe the braves’ story. The Chief gazed over his braves, seeking confirmation of the story. They all nodded then stepped back, leaving Rachel and Bryan standing before the Chief alone. After another moment of surveying the keyblade wielders, he spoke.

“Recent moons have brought back shadows all cross homeland.” He announced to the whole tribe as much as he did Rachel and Bryan. “Now braves tell of new braves that fight shadows and make homeland safe.”

The tribe murmured in excitement and awe. The Chief acted as though he hadn’t heard and looked back and forth between the strangers.

“How you fight shadows and make shadows flee?”

“With these, sir.” Rachel replied.

She and Bryan held their right arms out so their hands were level with their eyes and summoned their weapons. In a flash of radiant light the keyblade obeyed its masters. The polished metal surface of the Bass Blade gleamed in the fading sun. The jewels of Moonlit Majesty caught the light and sparkled like rainbow stars. The tribe reacted with a wave of shocked awe. The Chief however only slightly raised his eyebrows in surprise. Otherwise his expression remained unchanged.

“Those fight shadows.”

“Yes they do, sir.” Bryan said.

“We came here to defeat as many shadows as we can.” Rachel added.

“We’re looking for something that could make that shadows leave for good. It will at least keep this world from falling into shadow forever.”

There was an excited murmur through the camp. Even the Chief looked pleased. He raised his hand to silent the murmurs.

“Bad shadows have returned to homeland after many moons of peace. Bad shadows make even good red-man brave run with fear. You pale-face braves seek bad shadows to keep homeland safe. Your task great. Red-man grateful. Tonight we feast in honor of pale-face braves that fight shadows and bring back light.”

The tribe erupted into joyous hollers and cries. Rachel looked at her brother. He was smiling too.

“Release the prisoners! Tonight all shall celebrate.” The Chief called out.

 _Prisoners_? Rachel wondered. Some distance away, completely overlooked until just then were a group of boys tied to a wooden post. Most were dressed as some kind of animal but two wore pajamas. She guessed the oldest to be maybe ten at the most. The youngest perhaps only five.

After they’d been cut loose the boys ran right over and started talking together and asking questions as though nothing happened. Only the two in pajamas appeared to have any concept of manners. All the others kept pushing each other and interrupting one another constantly.

“You can fight the shadow monsters too?”

“Where are you from?”

“Where’d you get those swords?”

“Do you know that guy who left the wooden sword in our treasure chest?”

“I’ve never seen you before.”

“You’re dressed funny.”

“You look like grown-ups so-”

“-what are you doing in Neverland?”

“Do you know the nice girl with blue hair?”

A little boy dressed as a rabbit tugged at Rachel’s pant leg above her boot. Rachel got down on one knee to listen to him, impressed he made an attempt to get her attention before he started talking. The Indians were busy preparing the feast for the evening to mind them talking with the boys.

“You’re a girl. But you’re tall. Are you a grown up?”

“Almost,” Rachel said slowly. She wasn’t sure where a question like that came from or what could possibly follow.

“Do you tell stories?”

“Um, I know a few, yes.”

“So you could be our mother too, right?”

“Sorry, what?”                  

The boy dressed as a bear, later to find out his name was Cubby, heard the tail end of the conversation and joined in.

“You can’t have two mothers! Can you?”

“ Why not? Two mothers, twice the number of stories!”

At this point the rest of the wild boys caught wind of what was going on and they all began begging Rachel to be their other mother. From what all the boys were saying Rachel got the idea that they thought a mother was the girl who takes care of you and tells you stories.

This shallow idea of what makes a mother concerned her. How was it possible that none of these children had any idea of what a mother truly was? What kind of place was this? Were they all orphans? A little boy dressed as a skunk clung to her ankle like a baby koala and looked up at her with big, pitiful, begging eyes.

“The thing is guys, we’re not going to be here for very long so we may not have much time to play.” Bryan cut in.

Rachel was grateful Bryan came to the rescue but she still felt bad over the crushed reaction of the boys. It was so sad to see these children so disappointed not to have a mother even in a playing-house sort of way.

“Well…we don’t know how long it will take to find the you-know-what and maybe they can help. There’s no reason we can’t indulge them a little until our task is over, is there?”

That sounded enough like a ‘yes’ to make the children cheer. Bryan gave her an odd look. Rachel looked back at him and shrugged in a sorry-but-what-else-could-I-do? fashion. He’d given her an out and her own squishy, child-loving heart dove right back into the hole he could have got her out of. 

After Rachel and her brother had finished answering as many of the questions put to them as they dared, they asked a few of their own. On this island the only adults were Indians and Pirates. Here children were allowed to play and do whatever they wanted day in and day out and never grew up. Their names were Tootles, Nibs, Slightly, Cubby and the twins were known as the Raccoon Twins or the First and Second twin. The boys in pajamas were John and Michael. They came to the island with their sister Wendy. They had been playing while Wendy and Peter Pan had gone to mermaid lagoon. It was during their game that they had been captured by the Indians. But that was ok. They’d been caught before as had the Indians. When the game was over one always let the other go to play the game some other time.

 


	5. Neverland: Meeting Peter Pan

The Indians wouldn’t let Rachel or Bryan assist in preparing their own celebration in any way despite offers to do so. The lost boys helped collect firewood and mix paints. They were banished from the paint task when they started getting messy. As the preparations were coming together, two new kids came on the scene. By the excited reaction of the lost boys Bryan guessed this was Peter Pan and Wendy. Curiously enough, they had flown to the camp much like he and Rachel could if they concentrated their Wind magic around them. These two kids however appeared to be unaided by any obvious magic. The Indians greeted Peter and Wendy like friends and did not have any issue with flying children. Apparently this was not an uncommon thing in this world.

The lost boys gathered around Peter and Wendy (it seemed Peter was their leader) and told them all about the newcomers who fought shadows. The boy in green looked at Bryan and his sister strangely. Bryan thought it was crazy but he was sure he saw a flash of jealousy across the kids face. As the night would progress the keyblade wielders would learn that Peter Pan was the first lost boy on Neverland, could fly freely and up until Bryan and his sister arrived, was the only one who could successfully defeat a Heartless. Come to find out, he hadn’t been honored for this skill the way they were right then.

The Chief came out of his tent and the tribe gathered around the large pile of sticks and branches that would be the bonfire for the nights celebration. He said a few words reiterating why the pale-face braves were being honored. He also said something like a thank you in advance for all the shadows they would slay. To Bryan, it sounded more like a, thank-you-for-endangering-yourself-for-us-but-I-expect-to-see-results-soon.

A brave was about to light the fire when Rachel stepped in with her keyblade. She gave the brave a respectful nod and requested to light the fire, promising they would not be disappointed. Bryan shook his head but was grinning. He knew she had a performers heart and loved to show off neat skills whenever given the opportunity.

Rachel held Moonlit Majesty in front of her with both hands. Slowly the orb at the end glowed red-orange and small tendrils of flame reached out from the jewel. Then, brandishing the keyblade like a magic wand the bonfire was set alight with a crackling flash of light and sparks. Next she called the Wind and it spun around the flames and took it to the sky like a fiery tornado.

The tribe and lost boys cheered and hollered at the display of magic. The celebration officially began afterward. Baskets of food were passed around, Indians sang and danced and everyone wanted a better look at the keyblades and to see more magic.

As the night went on Bryan joined some of the Indians in charge of the music. He got comfortable with a drum and picked up on their beat immediately. He’d always been able to keep in time with just about any rhythm he heard. After a while Bryan decided to pick up the pace and the Indians joined in. The dancing really got crazy after that.

Rachel got up and danced as the music picked up. An older Indian woman kept trying to make the girl, Wendy, get more firewood until Rachel took Wendy by the hand and invited her to dance. Bryan laughed to himself. His sister really wasn’t much of a dancer but at least she was having fun. After a while of beating on the drum, Bryan changed instruments. He beat out a rhythm with the Bass Blade by tapping it against a large rock. Being infused with the power of music each tap sounded like the entire percussion section of an orchestra. Once and a while Rachel would swing her keyblade about, letting it trail different colors of magic.  Both lost boys and Indian children chased after it, trying to catch the colors. Just for fun and to the delight of the tribe she would make the fire erupt and spark like crimson fireworks.

The party lasted for hours, but like all good things, it couldn’t last forever. Before the Chief declared the celebration over, he gathered everyone for one final announcement. From that day onward the tribe would know the pale-face braves as Beating Drum and Dancing Fire. When the Chief finished speaking he retired to his tent. Most of the braves did the same while the women cleaned up.

Peter Pan led his troop away from the camp, back to their home. Everyone still had a spring in their step despite feasting and dancing for hours.

“You gotta come with us!” Slightly grabbed Bryan by the wrist and tried to drag him along.

“Beating Drum and Dancing Fire! Beating Drum and Dancing Fire!” The other boys chanted.

Peter didn’t look at all happy with the idea but the rest of the boys were insistent and Wendy said ‘please’ so he didn’t have much choice. The boys cheered and danced. Peter flew above and ahead of the group, leading the way. He didn’t seem in a celebratory mood but didn’t silence the lost boys either. Rachel followed not far behind him with Moonlit Majesty aglow at her side with white light and Tootles sitting happily on her shoulders. The twins rushed Bryan hoping to also get a piggy back ride. Bryan was about to oblige them until he heard the sound that meant trouble. He looked to his sister. She’d heard it too.

Rachel raised her keyblade high and intensified the light. Beady yellow eyes peered back at them through the darkness. Peter Pan had seen them too.

“Lost boys! Hold together!”

The sudden command caused the children to freeze, startled by the harsh words amidst all the fun they were having. It wasn’t until Wendy cried out in panic did they realize what must be happening and clustered together in a terrified huddle.

Bryan drew the Bass Blade. These were just Shadows and Darter Imps. Neither were very strong or hard to defeat but could cause serious damage to the untrained because they always attacked in groups.

“I’ll take care of them, you stay close to the boys.”

Rachel didn’t argue. She probably couldn’t have fought very well anyway with a terrified Tootles clinging to her head for dear life. Her keyblade sparked, ready to give an unpleasant jolt to anything that got too close.

Bryan dove into action. There looked to be a lot of Darter Imps. That might be a problem. Hence their name, they were known for their erratic movements. Apart from Thunder to hit several at once, there was no strategic way to fight them apart from bashing like a maniac. But Thunder might be risky with the children around. He would have to get this over quickly then.

Suddenly Peter Pan was floating at his side. He had a small knife in his hand, his eyes focused for a fight.

“No way,” Bryan said. “This could get dangerous. You stay back there where Rachel can keep you all safe.”

“Like I need a girl to protect me.” Peter laughed. “I’ve been fighting these things long before you guys got here!”

Bryan would have protested but Peter had already charged ahead, slashing at any Heartless within arm’s length. Forget it, so long as he wasn’t getting clobbered Bryan figured it would have been a waste of energy to try and stop him instead of just focusing on the Heartless.

The fight was by no means hard. The problem lay with just trying to catch the stupid things. If all the Heartless weren’t cleared out they might try to pursue. Bryan set his aim to a Shadow but his swing was just a fraction too slow before the Heartless flattened and scurried about the ground. He hated it when they did that. Bryan knew he couldn’t worry about that one while it was still a shadow so he looked for the next closest target. Then, out of the corner of his eye he saw something large and black move across the ground. Great. Were the Shadows getting bigger? Couldn’t be, the place where the Shadow he’d seen a second ago had a puff of darkness dissipating quickly from it. But what had made the Heartless go puff?

Rachel stood over the huddled children like a mother eagle protecting her nest. She wasn’t even using her magic unless absolutely necessary so it couldn’t have been her that struck down the Heartless. Not only that, Peter was in green, but what he had seen, even for a second was definitely black. Still, his bewilderment didn’t deter him from his task. It also didn’t keep him from noticing and feeling a bit impressed by how well Peter successfully fought the Heartless with little to no damage done to himself.

Bryan scooped up an Imp with the teeth of his Keyblade and threw it in the air. A Shadow came up from behind and scratched him on the back of his leg. He turned his attention to it but it had already flattened. He watched it, ready to pound it flat when suddenly the dark shape appeared again and obliterated the Heartless. But the thing moved off too quickly to get a good look at.

The Heartless swarmed for what felt like an hour but it was only about five minutes. It’s funny how handling a multitude of enemies makes time feel different. The Lost Boys looked around when the commotion died down but didn’t break up their huddle.

“What was that thing? Did any of you see that dark shape? It beat those Heartless.” Bryan said.

“You mean that big black thing that moved over the trees?” Rachel replied.

“Yeah, what was it?”

Peter threw out his chest with pride. “That was my shadow.” He said, proudly.

“Your what?” Bryan asked.

“My shadow. It’s a lot more special than others. Look. Hold up that light a bit higher.” Peter said to Rachel.

Rachel held Moonlit Majesty above her head and intensified the glow. When she did, the light cast a shadow on one of the nearby trees. The shadow cast from his feet much farther than a shadow normally would. It was Peters’ shadow, and it waved at them, but Peter was still standing with his arms crossed.

“How is it doing that?” Rachel asked amazed.

“It’s always been like that.”

“And it can fight Heartless.” Bryan confirmed.

“You bet it can!” The shadow made a bow worthy of any professional performer. “Didn’t I tell ya I could take care of myself?”

“Looks like you were right all along.” Bryan said. “Great job taking care of those Heartless.”

Peter’s attitude improved greatly after Bryan’s praise. The celebratory atmosphere had vanished. Now all the boys wanted to do was to get home as soon as possible and without further incident. The lost boys lived in a large hollow tree known as Hangman’s Tree. As soon as they could see it the boys bolted, eager to get inside. One by one they vanished into secret doors and other entrances around or in the tree. Rachel and Bryan had to use a large round door at the base of the tree. Peter Pan opened it by hitting it in just the right spot and it rolled out of the way. Peter slid down it, followed by Wendy and her brothers. Once they were sure everyone was safe inside, Rachel and Bryan went down too.

 Both hit their heads on the ceiling when they stood up. The underground room clearly wasn’t intended for anyone over 4’5”. The ceiling rose a bit in the center of the room but nowhere could Bryan, at 6’1”, stand up comfortably straight. Tangled roots were used as shelves and frames for beds. Several hammocks hung from the ceiling. A big bear rug lay across the floor. There was only one actual bed in the room. A drape on the far side of the room indicated there was a second room behind it. Pillows and blankets were piled haphazardly on another side of the room. Judging by their cleanliness Rachel guessed they didn’t get used much.

Once in the safety of their tree all the boys were all yawns and droopy eyes. Until,

“Wendy, tell us a story.” Slightly said.

There was a new wave of energy as everyone swarmed Wendy at her place on the bed with ‘pleases’ for a bedtime story. Rachel smiled at the scene. Wendy told the story of a golden fish caught by a fisherman who promised to grant three wishes in exchange for its freedom. All the boys (those who weren’t drifting off) were hanging on her every word. By the time the fisherman’s wife had wasted the second wish demanding a fancy new washtub, the unpleasant feeling returned. These kids said Wendy was their mother and Wendy seemed to be playing along. They were all just playing house but treated the game as if it were real. Is this really all they thought a mother was? Did none of them really have a worried mother waiting for them anywhere? Her heart sank at the thought.

Less than a minute after the story was over Nibbs piped up that the night should end with a lullaby. He tugged at Rachel’s sleeve saying it was her turn. Instantly all heads turned to her, sleepy eyes and all. She smiled. Maybe just one.

 


	6. Neverland: Mermaid Lagoon

Sunbeams kissed the land as the last colors of the sunrise faded. Dewdrops dried up hours ago. Not a creature anywhere had a drowsy eye.

                Well, almost.

Soft snores rattled inside Hangman’s Tree. The lost boys were splayed everywhere. They had just slept where ever they dropped. Bryan, however, suddenly jolted awake. Drowsily he looked around the room for what had woken him. He had always been a heavy sleeper. Hardly anything except hard relentless shakes could wake him if he wasn’t ready to get up. And even if he hadn’t gone to bed tired he could almost sleep the same hours a day as a koala if there was no one to bother him. So what could have rattled him from slumber was a mystery. Still, he was awake now whether he liked it or not.

Slowly he sat up, knowing immediately that even though his eyes felt covered with fuzz and a yawn was only seconds away he wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep. Once his eyes focused and his brain unfuzzed Bryan noticed his sister was nowhere to be seen.

“She better not have gone off without me.” Bryan grumbled through a mouthful of sleep. He stood up and stretched the best he could. But not being able to stand up straight denied a good stretch its feeling of satisfaction.

The tree buzzed with light snores and occasional snorts. Young boys gently sucked their thumbs and drooled a little in their sleep. Bryan didn’t bother being quiet as he climbed up to the door. He knew exhausted children could sleep harder that he did.

Once Bryan squeezed out of the door he took the opportunity to stretch properly. He glanced around. Rachel was nowhere in sight. Figuring she’d come back the moment he went to look for her Bryan decided to wait. He sat on a large root and within a minute started absent-mindedly tapping out a rhythm on his thigh. After another minute the tune in his head intensified. Bryan called the Bass Blade and tapped out a rhythm with it against the root.

“Beating out the jungle rhythm?”

Bryan looked up but didn’t stop the beat. Rachel had come back with a basket of fruits and vegetables under her arm.

“Been up long?” She asked, sitting on the root next to him and offering the basket.

“Nah. You?”

“About an hour I think. Fought off some heartless while looking for breakfast. You wouldn’t believe how many different plants grow in the same place. There are really friendly monkeys here. They gave me the bananas. And I’m not positive, but I’m pretty sure I saw a bear.”

Bryan looked into the basket. She’d brought back a few fat carrots, apples, bananas, pears and a large handful of green beans. He raised an eyebrow and picked up something large and yellow-green.

“What _is_ this?”

“Honestly? I have no idea. I don’t know if it’s sweet, sour or even ripe.”

Bryan took all the green beans and began eating them no differently than if they were candy. The pickings were very slim for breakfast. He didn’t eat apples or bananas unless he had to and he wouldn’t touch pears.

“Is this all you could find?”

“Just in the direction I went. The carrot patch wasn’t that big and I cleaned out that beanstalk for you.”

They ate the rest of their breakfast in silence.

Bryan spat out a bean stem. “Were you going to tell the Lost Boys that we’re going?”

“I wasn’t going to. After last night they’ll still be asleep for a while yet, I think. And I think we made it clear we’re on a mission. That Wendy seemed one of the sharper tools in the shed. I’m sure at least she’ll come to that conclusion and tell the others. Besides, even if we find the keyhole today, we’d still have to go back to say good-bye.”

Bryan didn’t say anything but agreed in his head.

“So where should we go first?”

“I don’t care.” Bryan said. “We have to look everywhere anyway.”

“I saw a lot of water in the distance when I was looking for food. Let’s go back that way. I’ll bet it’s the ocean!”

                That would be exciting. Rachel had only seen the Rising Falls once when she was really young and the biggest expanse of water Bryan had ever seen was a man-made lily pond.

                The journey to the ocean was uneventful with the exception of the appearance of several new Heartless. The closer they got to the water the more varied the Heartless became. Each new type had its own fighting style as well as weaknesses that had to be discovered and exploited. It took longer to defeat them too. Not just because of the time it takes to understand the enemy but these new Heartless were getting tougher.

                A little out of breath Bryan and Rachel stood at the top of a slope overlooking a peaceful lagoon that spilled into the ocean. The view was amazing. Just passed the cove of polished moss-covered rocks the vast ocean spread out as far as the eye could see. The sky and sea were so blue they almost appeared to be one. Sea birds were no more than tiny dots in the distance but their shrill cries could still be heard. Glistening white-capped waves crashed against the golden sand. Below, the lagoon was filled with lush green trees, brilliant flowers and a small, sparkling waterfall.

Suddenly Rachel gasped sharply. Bryan felt his back stiffen and finger twitch, ready to summon his Keyblade. But a little voice in the back of his mind told him to wait. He’d heard that same gasp before and it could mean one of two things. It was the same gasp that meant both “Gyahhh!!! Something scary/BIG spider killit killit killit!!!” and “Ohmigosh it’s so cute!!!”which got annoying.

“What?” He hissed, quickly looking around and straining his ears for Heartless.

“Look look look!” She reached her hands around his head and directed his gaze down into the lagoon.

He looked but at first didn’t see what she found so interesting. Then he noticed there was something moving down in the lagoon. People? More specifically a group of girls. More specifically a group (school?) of _mermaids_. He’d never been into fantasy things growing up the way his sister had been but there was no denying seeing a real-life mermaid was pretty cool.

“Come on! Come on!” Rachel grabbed his sleeve and jumped up and down. “We are so getting a closer look!”

She charged on ahead down the slope with the giggly air of a child who knew her birthday present was a pony. Bryan had no choice but to follow. Not like getting the chance to meet a real mermaid was going to ruin his day.

At level with the lagoon they laid on a high rock overlooking the water. Below the mermaids were basking on several rocks in the center of the lagoon. They would flick their slender blue tails from time to time, fuss with their hair or jump in and swim a lap around the rocks before getting back on again.

“Heheehe, this is so amazing!” Rachel giggled in a high-pitched whisper.

“Aren’t mermaids supposed to avoid people? This is probably all the closer we’ll be able to get.” His knowledge of mermaid folklore was understandably limited but he did remember a thing or two from what Rachel had read in her fairy tale books when they were children.

A blonde mermaid with a white lei of flowers around her neck sat at the edge of one of the rocks, fussed with her hair and looked at her reflection. She saw something in the water and went to reach for it. Suddenly a dark green hand shot out of the water and grabbed her arm. She screamed and immediately the peace was broken. The Heartless raised its head out of the water and stared at her with bright orange eyes. She continued screaming, flopping about and hitting it without success. None of her other mermaid companions lifted so much as a scale to help her. They too were screaming and trying to save themselves. But new aquatic Heartless were now swarming the lagoon. The mermaids who jumped in the water were chased. The ones who stayed on the rocks tried to get as high as they could but only cornered themselves as the Heartless began to circle.

“Guess that’s our cue.” Bryan said.

Together they called their keyblade and charged down the beach. The Heartless noticed them immediately and began the attack. The smallest ones looked like aquatic Darter Imps. They were a little bigger than a Shadow with huge, black wide eyes and wicked jumpers. These were blue-green, scaly with webbed clawed-hands and feet and big frills on their heads. Blue Rhapsody Heartless danced overhead like a snowstorm. Also overhead Heartless that looked like seagull harpies with short legs but nasty long claws soared overhead. Blue Rhapsodies were easy to defeat assuming they held still for longer than a few seconds. Fortunately it took them a moment to charge up their icy blasts.

The more Heartless were defeated the mermaids jumped in the water and disappeared. The worst part of the fighting was trying to hit the Heartless and at the same time not fall into the water. Eventually they both said screw it and used all their magic on Thunder until every last Heartless had been fried.

After what felt like a hundred Heartless, Bryan let himself collapse on the stone. He felt strangely drained and a little dizzy. Magic was Rachel’s strength, not his. Using so much so quickly was exhausting. It didn’t help anything that his shoes were soaked through either. Rachel sat down next to him, also catching her breath. The Heartless had continued coming for what seemed like forever. That had been one of the longest fights yet, especially with so many Heartless at one time. Might as well get used to it. No doubt similar fights were inevitable no matter where they went.

“Well that was fun.” Rachel said blandly. She used Cura and the beating no longer stung.

Bryan lay back on the stone and didn’t respond. A few minutes passed in silence as they rested. Then Rachel swatted his side. That was annoying. Just as he was beginning to relax she wanted something. He sat up, ready to respond with a rude “ _What_?”. That is, at least until he saw what she had.

The mermaids had returned. They were less than a stone’s throw away from where Bryan and his sister sat on the shore, quietly watching them. Even after being discovered, the five mermaids didn’t retreat to the water. A girl with jet black hair tied up with bright orange corals gently glided close to the shore.

“You…you both saved us from those horrible monsters.” She said in a quiet, awed voice.

“That was so brave.” Said another with red hair and gold circlet around her head.

“It was the most incredible and amazing thing I’ve ever seen.” Said a blonde with flowers in her hair. She put her elbows on the shore looking starry eyed (mostly at Bryan).

“Glad you think so. It’s what we do.” Rachel said. “None of you were hurt were you?”

“Oh no, we’re fine.” Answered a red-head with a ponytail. “Thanks to you two.”

“There must be something we can do to thank you.” The blonde with flowers said, still gazing adoringly at Bryan, a gaze that was making him a little uncomfortable.

“No,” Bryan said slowly. “I think we’re good.”

“Oh no no no!” The black-haired mermaid said. She pulled herself on the shore and her sisters did the same.

“We must do something to repay you for saving us.”

“Mermaid law demands it you know.”

“Yes, yes! If a human saves a mermaids life the debt must be repaid somehow.”

Then, completely ignoring that anyone else was there the mermaids gathered close and discussed amongst themselves what they could do. They bickered and suggested ideas for some time. All the while only three feet away from Rachel and Bryan.

“Do you think they forgot about us?” Rachel asked.

 It was clear just by looking at her that she had hoped her first real encounter with a mermaid would be a bit more magical. But before Bryan had a chance to respond the mermaids turned around. Two of them giggled and dove back into the lagoon. When asked where they’d gone the rest just giggled in a you’ll-find-out-soon-enough sort of way. After a moment or three the other two returned with something in their hands. They looked at each other, giggled (mermaids apparently did a lot of that) then held out something in their hands. They each had a sparkly, jewel encrusted shell. Even though they hadn’t seen many shells before Bryan at least could imagine not many shells had a polished metallic shine or were covered with jewels. Just by looking at it he could tell they were enchanted.

He and Rachel took the shells presented to them. His was a scallop shell, Rachel’s a spiral snail shell. Bryan didn’t want to appear ungrateful but he certainly thought to himself a piece of mermaid jewelry wasn’t much of a reward.

“Those are very special shells.” One of the red-heads said with a sly smile.

“If you hold it close when you get in the water-”

“I want to tell them.”

“You? Why you?”

“What makes you think you get to tell them the best part?”

“Well it was my idea.”

“No it wasn’t!”

 “I suggested it first. You just agreed.”

“I did not! I thought about it long before you said anything.”

“Just tell us what they do!” Bryan snapped. He usually had an even temper and was normally very patient but all this senseless bickering got incredibly annoying real fast.

 In fact, he was beginning to think he’d never have a blink of regret if he had died without ever meeting a real mermaid. So far they just talked and giggled a lot and seemed to be quite petty. The mermaids stopped, startled at the sharp command then looked down in shame. They glanced at each other, giving one another the ok to tell the big secret.

“If you keep the shell close to you when you get in the water you’ll become a mermaid.”

Bryan didn’t bother looking at his sister. He knew her eyes must be sparkling with delight at that news and expected an ear-piercing squeal of joy any second. Surprisingly shrill giggles of happiness were not the first thing he heard.

“Is it permanent?” Rachel asked.

“Sadly no,” The black-haired mermaid answered. “You’ll get your legs back once you’re out of water.”

That was very relieving news. The last thing Bryan needed was to spend the rest of his life as part fish in a lagoon of Heartless and squabbling mermaids. He correctly guessed that now the mermaids would want them to try out their new treasures. The girls tugged at his shoe, insisting that he test the shells power to see just how amazing their gift really was. Rachel (not surprisingly) was eager to give it a try. The mermaids splashed back into the water, encouraging her to jump in.

“Ready?” Rachel asked with a smile.

“I guess.” Bryan said. He knew that unless he bolted into the forest that second he wasn’t getting out of this. 

The mermaids splashed excitedly. On the count of three, they jumped in.

Bryan wasn’t sure how far a person was supposed to sink when they dropped into a deep pool. It felt like he’d sunk straight to the bottom. The water wasn’t icy, but still quite cold. He felt the need to breathe then panicked because he didn’t know how to swim. Suddenly the water felt warm and comfortable. He felt strangely relaxed, like the water washed away all panic and tension. Bryan opened his eyes. To his surprise his vision was very clear underwater. He exhaled a stream of bubbles and without even thinking inhaled again. But nothing happened. Breathing water was as easy as breathing air.

“Oh my.” The blonde mermaid with the white lei held her hands to the side of her face. She inched closer and batted her eye lashes.

Actually all the mermaids were looking at him like that, batting their eyes, sighing gently and primping their hair. Under any other circumstance, being eyed by a lady that way would be very flattering. But there was something about these mermaids that made him feel oddly uncomfortable.  Finally Bryan looked down at himself and stared, processing what he was seeing.

For some reason his shirt hadn’t survived the transformation. His immediate thought upon processing this information was hoping there would be a reverse effect when he got back out of the water. The only thing clothing-wise he still had was the belt that held his item pouch and where he’d put the shell. From hip-level down, flesh gently blended with smooth blue skin. Although he’d never seen a dolphin before that was what his tail was shaped like. He’d find out in a minute he even had a tiny dorsal fin in the small of his back.

“This is amazing!” Rachel couldn’t hold her squeal in any longer.

Bryan glanced over to her to see how she looked as a mermaid. Then he thought that might not have been the wisest move. His clothes hadn’t made the transformation maybe hers hadn’t either. Then again, he doubted she would sound so happy if that were the case. Fortunately (for the both of them) that wasn’t the case at all.

Rachel spun around in happy circles, allowing her hair to gently flow around her face. Her tail was the same lavender as her outfit had been and the fin also the same blue as the accents on her clothes. Her top looked no different than normal except it was cut off above the waist and had no sleeves. Like him, her belt stayed the same with her item pouch.

“This is fantastic! Thank you all so much!”

After accepting her gratitude the mermaids paid virtually no attention to her at all. In fact, a few gave her jealous glances and cold stares. Perhaps that was because their tails were all identical in shape and color. Rachel’s was purple with a blue, bell shaped, feathery fin.

“I’m gonna go explore.” She announced. Although not really graceful, Rachel was getting the swing of swimming with a tail.

“I’ll go with you!” Bryan said quickly. Maybe if he made it clear he wanted to be with his sister the mermaids might not want to come.

“Oh please don’t go.” The red-head with the ponytail said.

“You can stay here with us.”

“We’ll show you around.”

“Please keep us safe in case those horrible monsters come back.” The blonde with the pink flowers hugged his upper arm tight. Bryan felt his skin go clammy and a shudder work its way down his (now very much longer) spine. It was the first time he realized some of the mermaids were topless and their long hair was the only thing that kept them from being naked.

 _Help me_! Bryan mouthed.

“Well I’m going to take off now! I’ll see you in a while.”

Never before had he hated his sister so much as he did right then. That smile she had. She knew she was leaving him to the wolves and she thought it was funny. He mouthed very clearly, _I am going to kill you!_ To which Rachel responded with a mocking good-bye blow kiss that dripped with insincerity before swimming away.

 


	7. Neverland: A Mermaids Wrath

Rachel hummed herself as she spun and twirled in the water. Everything felt right. She had been transformed into an honest to goodness magical mermaid. Most little girls read fairy tales and dreamt and prayed they could be a mermaid princess, a magical fairy or have their very own pet unicorn. Now she could check one off that list.

Rachel didn’t give much thought to how Bryan was faring with his swimming (or his new girlfriends) but she was getting into the rhythm very well. Not yet as graceful as a true mermaid but she was more than ok with spending as much time in the water as needed to make that happen.

The lagoon was amazing. Beautiful from above, spectacular from below. The rocks were polished gray and white. It was a beautiful, like marble. Seaweeds danced slowly and gracefully on the sandy bottoms and on ledges of the stone. Rocks, corals and sea flowers looked like jewels scattered by the hands of some invisible giant. The bright sun from above sparkled and ripped against all surfaces like liquid diamond. Beyond the pool where they’d first met the mermaids there were only two places to go, out into the ocean and through an opening in the stone wall. As much as she would have loved to see the ocean, Rachel knew from reading the oceans were huge. And if it was big and full of amazing wonders it may take hours and hours to get back.

Through a short tunnel in the rock a huge cavern opened up. There were a few tall pillars throughout this massive underwater cave. In between the scattered pillars wide holes filtered light from above. It was as if huge holes had been drilled through the mountain above, lighting up this underwater heaven. With a refreshing surge of freedom Rachel laughed and swam as fast as she could through the cave. It was like flying. The water felt so right and natural she could hardly tell it was there. The wide spaces and rock walls echoed her laughter and cries of joy. It was the perfect place to sing. Which she took advantage of.

“ _Do you know where to find buried treasure?_

_Do you know where to dig for gold?_

_You can search ev’ry land, over snow, over sand,_

_And get only burned and cold._

_But the world offers thousands of treasures,_

_If you know where to look for them._

_See the round yellow moon, that’s a pirate’s doubloon_

_And the sun’s a fiery gem!”_

 

The acoustics in here were spectacular.

Smaller caves and pockets lined the walls. Most didn’t go far. A few lovely stones, shells and useful items that had been washed in from the ocean found their way into Rachel’s pouch. On the trail of more interesting treasures Rachel found herself traveling down another tunnel. This too opened up into another cave but this looked much different from the first one. It wasn’t as tall as the first one but very wide. In the center of this large cavern a stone formation had been fitted with what looked like mirrors. In fact, the centerpiece looked like the dressing tables theatre actors had placed side to side in a circle. In front of each mirror a flat stone jutted out with an assortment of trinkets on it. On the outer rim of the cavern large shells or hollow stones were lined with some cushy material. Woven pieces of seaweed intertwined with seaflowers made makeshift curtains between each ‘bed’. Rachel correctly assumed she’d discovered where the mermaids lived.

 As Rachel circled the centerpiece, looking at all the trinkets on the desks she got a surprise. A sixth mermaid sat in front of her mirror and adjusted a lily pad with a pink flower on it on her head. She hadn’t heard Rachel swim in and both were startled to see each other.

“Who are you?” she snapped, startled.

“Uh, Rachel. Sorry to surprise you. I was exploring and didn’t know anyone was down here. What’s your name?”

The mermaid studied her carefully. And not with very kind eyes, Rachel noted. That wasn’t the first time she’d seen that look. Her sisters had also given her that kind of cold, jealous glare. Jealous of what?

“Myleena.” She finally answered. “Why do you look like that?”

“Sorry?”

“Your hair is the color of damp soil and your tail is purple with a blue fin.”

“Yes?”

“So how did you do it? How did you make yourself look so different? Was it a potion? A magic comb?”

“Um, my hair has always been this color and I don’t know why my tail is purple. It just happened, I guess.”

Myleena looked at Rachel strangely. “You were born with that hair color?” She confirmed.

“Yes. Why is that so strange? Surely you’ve seen a brunette before.”

“Only on pirates and the lost boys. Mermaids only have gold, red and black hair.” She added a tone of pride to the last part as she too had black hair. Still, she pursed her lips a little with a shadow of a scowl. 

Little by little Rachel began to understand the problem the mermaids had with her. As far as she could tell, their only issue was that she was a girl. As this became more and more apparent, pieces of old fairy tales came to the forefront of her mind. She remembered a few stories where mermaids, although magical and extremely beautiful were selfish, vain and jealous at heart. They shamelessly used their wiles on human men either to drown them or make them fall hopelessly in love. Human women were of little interest to a mermaid unless she caught the attention of a man or possessed something the mermaid wanted. In this case it was physical appearance. All the mermaids had the same and shaped tails with limited hair colors. Why that was a big deal Rachel wasn’t sure. She didn’t think brown was anything to get uptight about until she realized it was just that she was different and Myleena never could be.

“I guess that would explain it then. I’m not a natural mermaid. Your sisters gave my brother and me these magic shells that could change us into merpeople as thanks fo-”

“Oh? A boy?” She interrupted with great interest.  “Wait, that’s why my sisters came through here so quickly a while ago? To give you those magic shells?”

“Yeah.”

“But why would they give you such a precious treasure?” Myleena looked her over again for where she might be keeping the shell, perhaps meaning to take it back.

“We saved them from a huge swarm of Heartless earlier. After defeating them all your sisters insisted we be rewarded for saving a mermaid’s lif-”

“You?” She sneered. “Ha! How could you possibly be able to fight off those creatures?”

“With a great abundance of talent and skill.” Rachel defended.

The mermaid let out a shrill mocking laugh. Rachel scowled, not appreciating being mocked.

“And with this.” Rachel extended her arm and called her Keyblade. She felt a great sense of satisfaction at the mermaid’s startled recoil at the flash of light that accompanied the summoning of Moonlit Majesty. The jewels of the keyblade took on a particularly magnificent glimmer due to the ever moving diamond sunbeams from above.

Instantly Myleena’s expression changed. There was sparkling awe and wonder in her eyes at the beauty of this shimmering item. But there was also something else. A glimmer of lust sparked in her eyes. Rachel could see that Myleena wanted it. Not that she could blame her. It was pretty amazing. Tentatively she reached out a hand to touch the violet orb. Rachel let her hold it. A decision she immediately regretted.

“It’s so…I’ve never seen anything…I can’t believe…it’s just…” She was so astounded she couldn’t form a complete sentence.

“I know what you mean. It really is-”

“I’ll give you whatever you want for it!!!”

Myleena pushed the keyblade back into Rachel’s arms and zipped to her place at the mirror. She pulled out a stone drawer beneath it.

“You can have all my favorite shells!” She opened a woven pouch full of shells of all shapes and colors.

“Oh they’re nice b-”

“And my best comb!”  She gave her a gold comb encrusted with tiny gems.

“I, uh-”

“Oh! Oh! What about my favorite decorative hair comb?” Myleena pulled out a small silver comb shaped like a seahorse with blue-jeweled eyes. She tucked it in Rachel’s hair and tugged her in front of the mirror to see how pretty it was.

“It’s very cute but-.”

“What about my pearls?”

“Well, I-.”

“And my jewels?”

“Don’t take this the wrong way bu-.”

Before she really knew what hit her Rachel found herself wearing what had to be every piece of jewelry Myleena owned. Myleena hummed daintily as she fussed with Rachel’s hair, adjusted necklaces and straightened pearl circlets and jeweled tiaras. She was trying very hard to make sure Rachel would want all her trinkets and show just how pretty she could be if she just made one simple trade.

“I’m flattered, I really am.” Rachel said. She was astounded by how heavy jewelry could be. “But I’m afraid there cannot be any trade.”

Myleena looked positively horrified when Rachel started taking off all the jewelry.

“B-but you would look so lovely.” Myleena protested. “Surely you could part with it if it meant having your own treasures.”

“I’m not saying I don’t like the idea of having frillies to decorate myself with. But I simply can’t give up my keyblade…in every sense of the term.” No kidding. A keyblade wouldn’t stay with someone whom it didn’t choose.

“M-maybe, maybe there’s something else here you’d like. There might be a treasure map! Or a magic mirror!” She said, getting desperate.

“Myleena the keyblade is not a toy. It’s a weapon for defeating Heartless and keeping people safe.”

“But I’ll take good care of it! I-I-I, maybe I could learn how to fight with it.”

“You don’t even know how to use it!”

“I don’t care! It’s beautiful and I want it! My sisters have never had anything so wonderful before! I’ll be the best if I have that!”

“I’m sorry but it’s mine and I’m not giving it up.” Rachel said with a stern and-that’s-final tone. She made her keyblade vanish, something she should have done from the beginning.

Myleena’s whole body quivered with rage. Her hands shook. Her eyes narrowed and her face turned red and contorted in an ugly way. If it were possible to shed frustrated tears underwater she most certainly would have.

“IIIIIIIII…WAAAAAAANT….IIIIIIIIIIIITTTTT!!!” She shrieked. Her words reverberated across the stone walls. Even the water seemed to shake in fear at The Mermaids Rage.

Rachel was actually freaked out a bit by this. Most certainly she’d have to use her keyblade to keep Myleena at bay as she made her way back to the lagoon. She had no doubt she was not skilled enough yet to out-swim a mermaid. And judging by the blazing hellfire behind Myleena’s eyes she was bent on getting her treasure one way or another.

Suddenly Rachel felt a haunting chill down her spine. It was as if the water around her had suddenly turned to ice, but only for a second. The cave went dark. Rachel called her Keyblade. A huge Heartless was coming down one of the tunnels of light from above. Once clear of the rocks, it unfurled itself, revealing its great girth. It had a very human torso with huge shoulders and massive muscles down its long arms. From the waist down it looked like a mermaids tail but with no fin at the end. On its head were two curled horns and narrow eyes. It had no ears or nose but a large mouth with long interlocking teeth. From its back fanned out two huge wings. But they looked a lot like very wide fins rather than feathers or bat wings. It extended a short-fingered hand in their direction then slowly at first, moved toward them.

Myleena screamed. As soon as the Heartless showed itself Rachel had Moonlit Majesty in her hand, the orb glowing yellow and ready to attack. But this thing was pretty big. Would she be able to defeat it by herself? The cave system ran deep. There would be no one to aid her if the battle became too much.

_Fight or flee? Fight or flee? Fight or flee? Get Bryan, then fight. For now, FLEE!_

She turned and discovered just how fast she could swim. The mermaid had a silent scream caught in her throat and was too petrified to move. It wasn’t until Rachel grabbed Myleena’s arm as she went by did she snap out of it. Shrieking she sped down the tunnel. The Devil Ray Heartless used its mighty fins like wings, giving it great distance on each downward stroke. Rachel turned and shot bolts of fire at it, hoping to slow it down. The blasts of boiling water hit it squarely in the chest. It stopped just long enough to flail in agony and rage then lunged forward.

Rachel tried every element she knew but each attack only slowed it down for a second and only made it angry. Worse yet, it was gaining. Myleena looked over her shoulder from time to time, saw how much closer the Heartless was getting and screamed. The Devil Ray reached out and swiped its claws at them. It hadn’t reached them yet but Rachel could feel the water strongly displaced each time it tried to get them. Their tails had to be only feet away from its desperate claws.

Then, getting an odd stroke of brilliance, Rachel had an idea. She locked arms with Myleena and held on tight. Pointing her keyblade at the Devil Ray she yelled,

“Wind!!!”

But instead of allowing the gusts to encircle her, she directed them like a tornado right at the Heartless. It shook its head, more annoyed than injured and kept going. But a slowdown wasn’t the idea. The force of the gust propelled them forward and they gained distance rapidly. Rachel couldn’t help but laugh with delight. It was working so much better than she thought it would. Except in order to do this she was going backwards so she could direct the gust and had no idea what was behind her. This resulted in both her and Myleena getting pancaked against one of the stone pillars in the main cavern. Thankfully the distance they’d gained was more than enough to spare a minute blinking away the stars.

Once the blinky blinkies in front of her eyes were gone Rachel could see the exit. Myleena was already a tails-length ahead of her. Thankfully she was still screaming so by now the others were certainly aware by now that something was amiss. A little disoriented Rachel sped to the exit and pancaked herself against her brother as he came in to see what the problem was.  Now they were both winded.

“What’s with all the screaming?” Bryan huffed.

“That.” Rachel pointed with her thumb over her shoulder as she tried to catch her breath for the second time.

His lack of a response let her know he had seen what she was talking about. 

“You ready to fight this thing?”

“I will be. Just give me a minute and I’ll join you.”

 


	8. Neverland: Never Again

Fighting underwater had been a challenge. Bryan hadn’t had much time to get used to swimming because the mermaids insisted on one more story after another of his “heroic adventures”. As a result from lack of practice his steering left much to be desired. Thankfully Rachel recovered quickly as she had a better equilibrium with no legs than he did. After much maniac bashing the Devil Ray finally went down. For the second time that day they’d been in an intense, exhausting fight. Bryan for one was ready to call it quits and go home.

“ _Where_ did that thing come from?” Bryan asked at last.

“ _It’s **her** fault_!!!” Myleena shrieked through fake, dry sobs, pointing dangerously at Rachel. “Sh-she sent that-that-that **_thing_** after me. I-I wasn’t doing an-an-an-anything a-an-and-”

“ _Excuse me_?” Rachel snapped defensively. “You were the one who turned into a raging sea hag because I wouldn’t trade you my keyblade.”

Myleena looked like she’d been slapped in the face with a dead cat after being called a ‘raging sea hag’. 

“She wanted your keyblade?” Bryan asked. Ignoring the mermaids look of horror completely.

He wasn’t even going to hear the entire story. One, because at this point he really didn’t care and two he knew Rachel couldn’t control Heartless. In fact when Rachel brushed it off as a “long story” he felt no need to press the matter further. These mermaids were driving him crazy. All the pawing and fawning and giggling and the starry-eyed stares and the constant shallow bickering as they fought it out amongst themselves who they thought he clearly liked the best were making him see red. He concluded a short while ago that he hated mermaids. Worse yet he had to be the one to make sure a catfight didn’t ensue from the ‘raging hag’ comment. It was clear Rachel had fallen out of any good graces with the mermaids but she didn’t seem to care at this point either.

Enduring icy glares that he was taking his sisters side and whiny begs and pleads not to go Bryan finally announced the field trip was over. Mustering up the last but of hospitality he had he thanked them again for the shells, reminded them to be wary of Heartless and pulled himself out of the water.

The transformation was immediate. Bryan barely realized it happened. They were back to normal clothes, gear and all. Only downside they were soaking wet looking as though they had just fallen in. He trudged back up the hill without looking back. He was wet, uncomfortable and irritated. Never in his life had Bryan imagined being fawned over could be so aggravating. Maybe it was because on some level he knew the mermaids were insincere with their adoration and threw themselves at him as a contest to see whom could win the humans affections.

“That wasn’t near as much fun as I was hoping it would be.” Rachel finally said when they were a distance away.

“Understatement of the year.” He answered sharply.

“Hold on.” Rachel held up her keyblade and surrounded them with Aeroa until they were dry.

“Thanks,” Bryan said, feeling a bit better.

A few minutes later.

“So what was it about that big Heartless anyway?” Bryan asked when he didn’t feel so irritated at the very thought of mermaids.

“The mermaid with the black hair and the lily pad, her name was Myleena. I showed her my keyblade and she went all evil-eyes crazy greedy for it. She offered me every bit of sparkle she owned in exchange for it. When I said no she went all spoiled-child-tantrum-crazy. I think it was the sudden wave of greed and jealousy in her Heart that drew the Heartless in.”

Bryan nodded.

“I don’t think it needs saying, but let’s **_never_** go back there.” He said.

“Agreed.”

Bryan was grateful she didn’t ask how his adventure went. He planned on telling her, but not today.

 “So no Keyhole at Mermaid Lagoon.” She said off-handidly Rachel stretched, then admired her magic shell for a moment before putting it back in her pouch. “I hope these things work on other worlds.”

“Yeah, that’d be cool.”

A few more minutes passed in silence.

“What do you say we find something to eat then go back to Hangman’s Tree?” Rachel suggested.

Bryan hadn’t even realized until she mentioned food that he was actually really hungry.

“That has got to be the best idea I’ve heard today.”

 


	9. Neverland: Meeting Tinker Bell

The next day

                Wet grass sparkled in the first rays of sunlight. Songbirds began to awaken and bless the world with their voices. Early morning fog slowly rose above the trees and faded into the new day.  And Heartless scurried through the undergrowth. As the world slept in the early hours of the dawn the creatures of darkness silently searched.

                Safe within the depths of Hangman’s tree, gentle snores fluttered around a dozen slumbering occupants. Rachel was the first to wake. Slowly and lazily she stretched herself out like a cat and glanced around the room. The lost boys were fast asleep in their hammocks and nest beds. Tootles had wrapped his tail around him like a blanket and quietly sucked his thumb. All that could be seen of the twins were their raccoon tails hanging over their hammock. John lay sprawled across a cot. Nibs, Slightly and Cubby were out cold in a dog pile on the other side of the room. None of the positions they had ended up in looked at all healthy for the spine. Wendy and Michael shared the large bed. Peter Pan however was nowhere to be seen. Everyone had wanted to know where they wandered off to. Wendy seemed to have the same opinions about mermaids as the key bearers did. Neither of them shared about the magic shells for fear everyone would want to try it.

Rachel curled herself back around her pillow. Just a few more minutes.  She’d wake up her brother, find something to eat then and use as much daylight as they could to find the keyhole. Rachel closed her eyes, enjoying the calm of the morning. After a moment or two something broke the calm.

She opened her eyes, looking around as best she could without getting up. Nothing looked out of the ordinary and no one else was awake but something was still different. After another minute Rachel figured out the difference. It wasn’t anything she was seeing but something she was hearing. It was a gentle tinkling coming from somewhere in the room. It sounded like the laughter of a crystal wind chime in a spring breeze. She sat up, concentrating on where it was coming from. A sparkle of light caught her eye. Rachel stared at the spot on the wall where she saw the light. It twinkled again but didn’t disappear. Understandably curious, Rachel got up to see what it was. As she got closer the light flickered a little but didn’t disappear. What it was astounded her.

A fairy. A real fairy! Maybe fairies would be nicer than mermaids. Cautiously she got closer to the fairy’s hiding place on the shelf, worried she might scare it off.

“Hello,” Rachel whispered, not wanting to wake anyone. “Do you live here too?”

The pixie nodded.

Gently Rachel extended her hand to the fairy, inviting her to come closer. The pixie hesitated a moment, looking around before accepting the invitation and landing delicately on Rachel’s hand with more grace than a butterfly.

“My, aren’t you lovely.”

The pixie touched up her blonde hair, smoothed out her dainty green dress and did a full-circle spin.

“Do you have a name? I’m Rachel.”

The fairy’s lips moved but all that came out was that crystal chime sound.

“Sorry, I can’t understand you.”

After a few more tries Rachel was able to read lips well enough to correctly guess the pixie’s name was Tinker Bell. After the introductions Tinker Bell started talking very quickly and made very dramatic motions with her arms. The young key bearer had no idea what the pixie was trying to say. All she could hear were jingling bells. But whatever the specifics, the message was apparently important. A suggestion of urgency was added when Tinker Bell grabbed the end of one of Rachel’s fingers and tried to pull her along with surprising strength.

“Just a minute,” Rachel said. “Let me get my brother up to help.”

The pixie nodded but didn’t wait for her to wake Bryan. She took matters into her own tiny hands. With rough jangles in his ear and tugging on his hair, Bryan startled awake, swatting at the air as though trying to hit a large fly. Tinker Bell chimed a laugh, looked around to make sure no one else had heard her then flittered back to hide on Rachel’s shoulder.

“What was that?” Bryan asked, voice groggy, rubbing a hand hard into his eyes to force himself awake.

“Meet me up top, we have somewhere to be.”

Rachel climbed up through the tunnel, pixie leading the way. She stretched once she was outside and waited. Hopefully Bryan hadn’t fallen back asleep. Tinker Bell flitted around the tree, looking for something. At least that’s what it looked like she was doing. If she were talking Rachel couldn’t understand it.

“What are we doing so early?” Bryan had come up the tunnel, his eyes still a bit glazed over from not having ample time to wake up on his own.

“We have somewhere to be I guess.”

“You guess?”

“Tinker Bell wants to take us somewhere.”

“Who?”

The sparkling fairy flittered in front of him, chiming a greeting and blinding him with glowing pixie dust.

“Whoa! Who, er, what is that?”

“Like I said, her name is Tinker Bell.”

Bryan still had a hand protectively in front of his face as though shielding himself from a wasp. He wasn’t afraid of her but her sudden appearance and proximity was startling.

“Oooookay, but what does she want?”

“I’m not sure. It seems she can talk but all I can hear are bell chimes. But I was able to figure out she wants us to follow her somewhere. I don’t know for what yet.”

Bryan didn’t get a chance to respond before Rachel took off after Tinker Bell.

 


	10. Neverland: Pixie Hollow

The leaf-clad pixie stopped on a ledge overlooking a deep valley. Sparkling cerulean streams glistened throughout. Lush emerald grass carpeted this haven. Somehow everything looked brighter in this place. In the center of this gorgeous forest a beautiful tree stood tall and seemed to emit its own radiance. It could be seen even from a distance. The area was not easy to get to.   
“Wow! Is this still Neverland? It’s beautiful!” Rachel said.   
Tinker Bell spun around in a shower of gold dust, making a particularly sweet chime as she did so. Whatever she said must have been said with great pride.   
“So what we’re needed for is down there.” Bryan said.   
Tinker Bell nodded.   
“Let’s go then.” Rachel and her brother were about to start climbing down the ledge to the valley when Tinker Bell flittered in Rachel’s face to stop her. She made stopping motions and slightly harsher bell noises.   
“I have no idea what this fairy’s saying.” Bryan said dryly. Aparently he wasn’t completely sold yet on fairies. That would probably continue until he received confirmation fairies were nothing like mermaids.  
Tinker Bell kept making elaborate hand motions and spoke very quickly. The best Rachel could figure, she wanted them to stay put. But asking why wouldn’t do any good obviously because they didn’t understand twinkles. Tinker Bell made one last gesture for the two of them to sit then flew off. Shrugging, Bryan did just that.   
“Does that make sense? She takes us all the way over here then leaves?”  
“That was probably a ‘I’ll be back’ message.” Rachel said.   
Indeed it was. A short time later Tinker Bell returned with a small pouch in her hands. She pointed at it and chimed excitedly. Rachel peered at it. It sparkled blue. But all she could do was look at the pixie, waiting for an answer to why this trip and blue sparkles were so important. Tinker Bell fluttered in front of Bryan, gesturing for him to stand up. On is feet, Bryan looked between the pixie and his sister, hoping for one of them to give some kind of clue as to what this was all about.   
Tinker Bell smiled and flew in circles around the two. Handful by handful she showered the siblings in the sparkling blue dust. At first nothing happened. The dust shower was just pretty. Then suddenly the world began to look different. A split second later everything got really big. Very surprised Rachel and Bryan looked around. They had shrunk!   
“It worked!!” A joyous voice above them cried. “I can’t believe it! It really worked!!”  
Rachel looked up. Tinker Bell flew down to them. She could be understood now.   
“You can talk. But what happened? What did you do? Why are we so small?”  
“I used blue pixie dust to make you small. And I’m so glad it actually worked. I don’t think anyone has used the blue pixie dust for making humans shrink before.” Tinker Bell said. “I’m glad you can understand me now. Big people can’t hear pixies talking.” She giggled.   
“Yeah that’s nice.” Bryan said, none too thrilled with being suddenly four inches tall. “But mind telling us why you shrunk us?”  
“Yeah, sorry about that.” Tinker Bell said. “I know it must be a surprise but I reeeeeealy need your help. I would have told you ahead of time but, like I said, big people can’t understand pixies.  
Let me explain. This is Pixie Hollow, my home. I’ve been watching you fight those nasty creatures. I haven’t seen things like that in forever but they didn’t come as far as Pixie Hollow before. It seems you two are the only ones who can fight them. And they’ve made their way here too. Even our fairy magic has limited effects on those things. I need your help to keep my home and friends safe. Worse still, those things have been meddling with the Pixie Dust tree. If the tree is damaged, no more magical pixie dust will flow and no fairy will be able to fly ever again.”  
“Wow.” Rachel said. That was a lot to take in. “That’s some of the best nutshell-ing I’ve ever heard.”  
Tinker Bell smiled, hopeful. “So you’ll help us, right?”  
“Of course.” Rachel said. “Right?” She looked to her brother.  
“Well we’re already here.” Bryan answered. “And if there’s Heartless then it’s our job to help out.”  
“Horray!” Tinker Bell did several flips in midair.   
“But we’re not the only ones who can fight Heartless.” Bryan said. “Peter Pan can fight them too. He lives here so why didn’t you ask him first?”  
Tinker Bell stiffened and went a strange shade of red. “I’m never talking to Peter again.” She said with an unpleasant growl. And Rachel was sure she heard an odd twinge of jealousy in her tone. But when she inquired about it, Tinker Bell avoided the question.  
“There’s just one other problem, Tinker Bell…” Bryan began.   
“Oh please, call me Tink.” She said, her mood changing as quickly as the topic.   
“Ok, Tink. How are we supposed to get all the way over there now that we’re so tiny? That will take all day.”  
“Oh…um. Well, I couldn’t have you go there normal-sized. Humans aren’t allowed at Pixie Hollow. Even the Lost Boys don’t know where this is and they live in Neverland!”  
“So we shouldn’t even be here?” Bryan raised an eyebrow.  
“Well, um, technically? No. But Pixie Hollow needs help. I’m sure queen Clarion will understand if she finds out. But just in case, we’d better keep your being here a secret. Except to my other pixie friends of course.”  
“Ok, fine, but how are we-”  
“We get to meet other fairies!?” Rachel interrupted, excited.  
Tink nodded. “We’ll need to get you into some sort of disguise though. Those clothes aren’t exactly what a pixie would wear and you’ll need to keep a low profile.”  
“But what about flying? Don’t you think someone will notice two new ‘fairies’ that have no wings? Unless,” Rachel said hopeful, “Is there a way your blue dust can make that happen?” Become a mermaid princess, check. Become a magical fairy, check? Now all she needed was a pet unicorn.  
“Sadly, no.” Tink said. “I don’t think there is such magic that can give a human fairy wings. But,” She added with a sly grin. “Pixie dust can make anything fly.”   
Rachel just about came unglued when she heard that.   
“What are we waiting for!” She said in an excited, squeaky voice. “Let’s do it! Let’s do it!”  
Tinker Bell smiled brightly. She flitted her wings and her sparkles shined brighter. “All you have to do is believe and hold on to a happy thought.”   
She flew in tight circles around the keyblade wielders. As the glittering dust landed on them Rachel and her brother the two began to gently float. Rachel’s smile was nearly as bright as the pixie dust. After taking a few minutes to get the hang of flying, even Bryan couldn’t help but smile at this amazing new gift. Once they were ready, Tinker Bell led the pair to her home in the trench where the Tinker Fairies lived. In her house Tink had planned ahead and brought a pile of assorted clothes. After getting dressed into more fairy-acceptable attire, Tink helped each of them pin on pretty petals to their clothes to look like wings. If anyone were to ask, Rachel and Bryan were to say they were fairies from the Mainland. That was why their wings were different and they had the keyblades. But with any luck only Tink’s closest friends would be the ones any of them would have the most contact with.   
“Ok, looks like the coast is clear.” Tinker Bell looked outside her door to make sure there weren’t many other fairies around. “Follow me.”   
Rachel found it hard to follow Tinker Bell because there were so many things to look at. Fairies sat at different stations crafting trinkets out of all sorts of natural items. Acorn caps became lids for teapots. Tiny stones were tied to sticks to make hammers. Rachel desperately wanted a closer look but there were Heartless to take care of first. The fairies seemed to be on edge as they worked. And there were some patrolling the area with hammers or cockleburs at the ends of sticks like maces. Apparently the Heartless were a problem regardless of location.   
“C’mon c’mon c’mon!” Tink urged. “Almost there.” She dove behind a thick patch of flowers. Rachel and Bryan followed.   
“So what are we hiding from?” But the question barely slipped off Bryan’s lips before realizing he’d asked the wrong question.   
Tink stood amongst a small group of fairies. Some looked nervous. Others, hopeful.   
“Ok everyone! These are the ones I told you about. This is Rachel, and her brother Bryan. They can make those scary shadow monsters disappear.”  
Instantly the heroes were swarmed by the fairy friends and heard all their stories of how they were Pixie Hollow’s last hope.   
For pixies, each one of them had a certain talent. Animal fairies like Fawn taught baby birds to fly and gathered food for creatures coming out of hibernation. Light fairies like Iridessa lit up fireflies and made rainbows. Very few of the fairy talents had even the slightest effect on the Heartless. Animal fairies could barely keep the creatures and insects under control. Everything was so scared of the Heartless. Flowers refused to open out of fear. Not even the Garden fairies could coax them open. Wind fairies could blow them away for a while but didn’t do any real damage. Same with Water fairies. Blasts of water deterred them but not for long. The only ones who had the most effect were the Light fairies. But even though light kept the darkness at bay, darkness thrives in the shadows of the light.   
“So where do you want us to go first and how do we get there?” Bryan asked after each of them had a turn to introduce themselves and share their grievances.   
“We need to clear out the forest first.” The fairy with a very long ponytail named Fawn said. “The little animals are just terrified.”  
“No, no, sweet pea. The meadows need attention first.” Rosetta said, nervously fiddling between a lock of her red hair and the edges of her rosy skirt. “If we can’t get things to grow how will we prepare to change winter into spring on the mainland?”  
“What abou’ us down in Tinkers Nook?” A skinny fairy with wild hair and big-eyed goggles said. His name was Bauble.   
“Tha’s righ’. Those creatures are making a righ’ mess out of our workshops. We can’t get any work done to help anyone.” A big fairy named Clank agreed.  
“Couldn’t you two split up and cover twice as much to get the job done faster?” A fairy in a blue dress named Silvermist suggested.  
“I don’t think that’s the best approach.” Bryan said, unsure.  
Rachel nodded. The two of them always fought side by side. They were under the impression that because their keyblades were actually one key split in two it may lose some of its power if taken away from its other half. They had not yet tested that theory and now didn’t seem the appropriate time. Especially if that’s exactly what would happen. IF this was as bad a crisis as the pixies were making it out to be now was not the time to be running on half power. And anyway, both of them played off each other in battle. They didn’t need to get thrown off by going solo after being so used to fighting with a partner.   
A sharp whistle halted the squabbling over what place needed the most attention. A boy fairy with short blonde hair and an acorn cap as a hat had broken up the bickering.  
“Don’t you think the Pixie Dust Tree should be our first and only priority?” He said sharply. “Everyone is scared and on edge but no fairy of any talent is more important than the others. I’ve seen a lot of those things getting closer and closer to the Tree by the day. If the Tree is what they’re after, do I need to remind you all what is going to happen if they harm it?”  
The other fairies nodded in agreement or shuffled their feet, guilty for being selfish.  
“Terrance is right.” Tink said. “We have to get them to the tree.”  
A dark-skinned fairy in a yellow dress groaned nervously and kept twitching about. “Ohhh, I know it’s important but…”  
“Seriously, Iridessa?” The fairy called Vidia said crossly. “We’re in a crisis situation. What could be so important?”  
“Well, it’s just that, um. You see, the closer we get to the Tree, that’s where Queen Clarion lives, right? IF she sees them she’ll be able to tell their wings aren’t real. Right? Then she’ll know they’re not real fairies. And she’ll know they must be humans. But humans aren’t tiny. So then she’ll know someone must have stolen the blue pixie dust to make a human small. And that’s a reeeeealy big no no. This would have to go smoother than paint on a lady bug shell for her not to get mad.”  
“Come on, Iridessa!” Tink said. “Look at the bigger picture here.”  
But Terrance shifted, uneasy. Come to find out he was a Dust Keeper fairy and had the best access to the blue dust. Blue dust was very rare and valuable to the Pixie Dust Tree and was not allowed to be used for anything else. If this didn’t work out as well as hoped, it was his neck on the line for stealing the blue dust. It wouldn’t matter if it had been Tinker Bells idea or not.  
“Alright then,” Rachel said. “We’ll go to this tree. Is there anything else we need to know?”  
“Well,” Vidia said thoughtfully. “I’ve noticed there’s a bit of a pattern to the shadow monsters movements. Being a fast flying fairy I’m in the air a lot because of all my important jobs.”  
“Oh honestly, Vidia.” Rosetta said, hands on hips. “Stop fluffin’ up your ego and just tell them.”  
Vidia rolled her eyes. “Fine. At first the things showed up in large numbers in different regions of Pixie Hollow, going in like a badly shaped spiral, all circling the Pixie Dust Tree.”  
“Now that I think about it,” Terrance said thoughtfully. “It might have been just my imagination but those creatures seemed to be looking for something around the tree.”  
“Looking for something?” Bryan repeated, eyebrows raised.  
Terrance nodded.  
Rachel looked at her brother. If that were true, could that ‘something’ be the Keyhole? If the Pixie Dust Tree were that important and had that much magic, it would make sense that focal point of power would be the location of the Keyhole.   
“So how do we get there? What is the least exposed way?” Bryan asked. Like his sister, he suspected they would find the Keyhole at the Tree.  
“We could go back to Tinkers Nook and hye dem in a basket or a wag’n an’ sneak ‘em there.” Clank said.   
“That’s a great idea.” Silvermist said.  
“Or they could hide in a cluster of flowers. We could say we’re making the council room look pretty.” Rosetta suggested.  
“That could work too.” Silvermist agreed.   
“Maybe I could create a huge gust of wind that could push us there really fast before anyone notices their wings aren’t real.” Vidia said thoughtfully.   
“That’s an even better idea.” Silvermist agreed again.  
“Sil!” Fawn scolded.  
“What? They were all really good ideas.”  
“Stop being such a flip-flopper. And good ideas are not helpful if we can’t decide.”   
“Forget it!” Rachel said. “We’ll just start walking slash flying. Bryan and I will stay low and take care of any Heartless that show up. The rest of you will stay close to keep us clear of too many other fairies.”   
“And those of you whose powers have even the slightest effect on the Heartless stay even closer.” Bryan added. They still had a ways to go and would need all their strength if they were going to jump into the heart of a swarm. No doubt if the Heartless could sense they were getting close to the Keyhole, they would very likely be stronger. And if they were as tough or tougher than that Devil Ray thing from the day before they’d need all the help they could get.   
“But what if-” Iridessa began.  
“We’ll cross bridges when we get to them.” Rachel said, cutting her off.   
They’d spent enough time talking. Rachel found it strange the aura of hesitation around several of the fairies even though this was an important task. Besides, flying was fun! Less talk more action.  
Vidia, Tinker Bell, Terrance and Bauble flew the highest, staying in a protective square around everyone. They would be the ones to alert of any far off danger. Rachel and Bryan flew among the others much lower to the ground. If anyone were to see them, they would just look like a group of friends all going somewhere together.   
There was a stream that passed right by the Pixie dust tree. It created a natural path that beat trudging or weaving through a jungle of grass. Suddenly something large and black leapt from the water, catching Fawn by the foot. Fawn screamed as it brought her down. Instantly everyone was in a panic.   
“Somebody pull her out!”  
“Oh no, oh no, oh no!”  
“Let her go you ugly thing!”  
The Heartless looked like a skeletal catfish with blank eyes and a huge mouth. It floated at the surface with Fawns foot still in its mouth, but it wasn’t doing anything. Even though Fawn was thrashing in the water trying to free herself and swim away the Heartless did nothing. Perhaps this one was a bit dim and didn’t know what it was supposed to do with a captured heart.  
Bryan swooped down and bashed the fish hard on the head. It grunted and flicked its whiskers upwards to see what hit it. He slashed again and again but the Heartless didn’t seem to feel it. Hitting the back of its head felt like smashing a brick wall (and was just about as productive). The bashing did make it open its mouth just enough for Fawn to jerk her foot loose. Finally realizing it once had a catch and now didn’t the Heartless began to submerge as if nothing had happen.   
“Oh no you don’t!” Rachel yelled at it, making a sharp dive.   
“Wait! Don’t’!” Bauble yelled. “You’ll never make that dive!”  
“Fairies can’t fly with wet wings!” Clank finished.  
“My wings aren’t even real!”  
“Oh, righ’. Be careful! Pixie dust might wash off!” Clank said.  
“Silvermist!” Bryan called to her. These fairies certainly did talk a lot. “Shoot this thing out of the water!”  
“Oh? Right! I’m on it.” Silvermist dove to the water then came out of the dive last second, throwing her arms out in front of her. Like a small geyser a pillar of water jetted up, pushing the Heartless with it. The dopy Heartless flopped on top of the spout, unable to wriggle off.  
Rachel flew on the other side of the Heartless from her brother. She looked directly at him, held her Keyblade out and the orb crackled with yellow light. Bryan nodded, understanding the silent suggestion.   
“Ok,” He instructed. “Let go.”  
Silvermist stopped the flow. The water splashed down, leaving the Heartless in midair for a moment. Not wasting any time,   
“Thunder!”  
Electricity snapped and popped against the drops of water in the air around the Heartless, forming an orb of sparks. The Heartless could barely wriggle or writhe before it vanished in a puff of darkness. Like most intense or panic induced fights, the battle didn’t last near as long as it felt. Fawn was all right. Her ankle was red and a little swollen but luckily for her the Heartless wasn’t too bright. But with wet wings she couldn’t fly.   
Not wanting to leave her behind unable to get away should a Heartless show up, Rachel and Bryan proceeded following the river on foot. The rest of the fairies stayed in their watch cloud above except for Rosetta and Tink who stayed close to Fawn.   
Similar battles happened sporadically on the trek to the Tree. Sometimes a large single Heartless and others hoards of Shadows and Darter Imps. Thankfully in a land of tiny people the Heartless also were matched in size. New Heartless began appearing the nearer to the Tree the assembly got. Some looked like spiny snakes. Others, angry wasps with huge stings on all their limbs. Some looked like flora that favored long range attacks and took a lot of energy chasing down. As expected, the opponents became stronger and more numerous the closer they got. But this only confirmed their suspicions. If the Heartless were around like this, that could only mean they must be near their quarry. And that couldn’t happen.   
The fairies helped out whenever they could, even if ‘helping’ meant throwing acorns or berries giving the Heartless something else to look at. Vidia enjoyed putting her talent to use when on multiple occasions helped Rachel and Bryan scoop up Heartless in whirling mini-tornadoes, making them much easier to zap with magic. One battle, the three of them swooped up the Heartless in a tight cyclone and Iridessa pushed an intense sunbeam right over top of them. The creatures of darkness didn’t last more than a few seconds under the pure light.


	11. Neverland: Prepare for Trouble

“Oh dear me, I don’t know how much more of this I can take.” Rosetta sighed, fanning herself with her hand. The group rested on a large mushroom just a stone’s throw away from the tree.

“My nerves are jus’ abou' done fo’.” Clank agreed.

 “Oh aye.” Bauble said, catching his breath. “Why couldn’t they give some kind of warnin’ befo’ they jus’ spring out at ye?”

“They do.” Bryan said. He used Aeroa lightly to make a breeze to cool them off. Rachel aided with Blizzardra to keep the wind cold. “Heartless make a sound as they materialize.”

“And neither of you thought to share that nugget of wisdom?” Vidia said a little rudely. She and Terrance hovered several feet above everyone to keep an eye out for more Heatless. 

“I doubt it would help.” Rachel said.

“She’s right.” Bryan said. “We know what it sounds like only because we encounter them so often. And we have to always be on guard for them.”

A moment passed in silence. Bryan took his boot off and massaged the heel of his foot. Although he had been flying for most of the trip, fighting still had to be done on foot. Rosetta saw his look of discomfort.

“Oh dearie me. Are you alrigh’?”

“Yeah,” Bryan said. “It’s just a lot happening all at once.”

“Maybe we can come back tomorrow. Y’know, once you’ve had a chance to rest.” Iridessa said, her voice quaking with worry. Then again, maybe not _worry_. But she clearly wanted to be doing anything else than be in the eye of the storm.

“No need. I’ll take care of it.” Rachel held her keyblade up. In a flash of misty green light sparkling bells and flowers hovered and twinkled over the two of them.

It was like getting a breath of fresh air after being cooped up in a windowless house on a summers day.  Everything felt better. Now hopefully they wouldn’t have to use Heal too much. This was partly because no one liked getting hit, partly because using it too many times in succession made its effectiveness slowly dwindled.

A panicked scream from high above startled everyone.

“The Tree!” Terrence exclaimed. “They’re here!”

Instantly Bryan and Rachel were on their feet.

“I guess this is it.” Rachel said, rolling her shoulders, ready for the imminent fight.

“All of you stay here.” Bryan ordered the fairies. “This is likely to get rough and none of you need to risk getting hurt.”

This was of course met with a wave of protests. The pixies insisted they came along too. They didn’t come this far to be left behind. And they refused to let new friends face this challenge alone, especially when they were putting themselves in danger on their behalf. Bryan could tell immediately no amount of talking or scolding was going to make any of them stay behind. Even Iridessa, the troop scardy-cat was resolved to see it through.

“Alright then. Let’s go.”

                


	12. Neverland: Nature's End

Within the center of the tree the branches laid flat and came together in a spiral. Mushrooms grew like little shelves on the branches as they angled themselves upward. The bark was unnaturally smooth with deep veins that twisted and danced around each branch as it reached outward. Many of the fairies in the group screamed or gasped at the sight of the clearing.

“The dust reservoir!” Terrance shouted, going very pale. “It’s gone!”

“What happened to all the pixie dust!” Silvermist cried, hysterical.

“Even the flo’ from above as stopped!” Clank pointed upward.

Everyone looked to the direction he was pointing. On a much higher branch they could see the undersides of three flat fungi of some kind. They were layered like the stones of a fountain. The one at the bottom had a groove in it, like a spout where something would flow from.

“It has to be up there!” Tinker Bell cried. “Come on everyone! Wings up! We have to save the tree!”

Like a swarm of angry bees the group zoomed upward to the branch. On the large branch another one of those strange fungi grew. But this one was much bigger. It looked like wide bowl only flat across instead of concave. This place, they would learn later was the place where all new fairies were born.

Apparently, when a baby laughs for the first time, the laugh embodies a seed or something and that seed is whisked away to Pixie Hollow. After it is given its first sprinkle of magical pixie dust, the life inside becomes a fairy. On this stage-like mushroom is where he or she is greeted by all the fairies of Pixie Hollow and where he or she learns what their true talent is. Sadly, this magnificent place did not look that magical now.

From a small nook in the tree branch above the pixie dust flowed. It filled up a beautiful pink and white flower then cascaded its radiance below. Each speck looked like a tiny splash of summer sunshine. It glittered like the frost on a cool morning. It glowed like the eyes of a woman in love.  And in the midst of this beauty stood the Heartless.

The nook where the dust flowed from to the mushroom stage below had to be about a foot and a half high. The Heartless was standing on the mushroom and swallowed the dust as it fell. Their second day of saving the worlds and this was their biggest Heartless yet (at least in terms of proportion). When you’re only four inches tall, eighteen inches is quite massive. This also had to be the oddest Heartless they had seen.

Its face looked like a caricature of a human, with a hooked, beak-like nose, very long pointed ears and extremely elongated chin. It had a very orb-like, semi-see-through torso and very long, twiggy arms with tiny palms and massive claws. It also had the forewings of a large butterfly and the hind wings of a dragonfly. The bottom part of its body was like the bottom of an hourglass and was filled with the pixie dust. Neither its head, torso or lower body was connected by any visible means and sort’ve hovered a few inches between the other pieces. It had its mouth open wide in the path of the falling dust and the dust reappeared in the hourglass part of its body.

Dozens of fairies were trying to make it stop but to no effect. Its wings were down, a sign that it was relaxed and found the screaming pixies to be of no threat. Besides, lots of other punier Heartless were jumping all over the place causing their own grief.

“Get everyone else out of here!” Bryan ordered. “With this many people and so many Heartless there’s no way we’ll be able to keep everyone safe.”

“On it!” Bauble saluted. He, Clank, Fawn and Rosetta went off to complete the task.

“Vidia! Iridessa! Silvermist!” Rachel called. “Get as many fairies of your talent as you can. Use your winds to gather all the little ones together then all the Water and Light fairies blast them with water and light beams. We’ll take care of the leader.”

They nodded and sped off. Tinker Bell and Terrence flew over with huge cockleburs tied to long sticks.

“We’re ready to help.” Tinker Bell said.

“Oh no you’re not,” Bryan said. “You wouldn’t last a minute against that thing.”

“This is our home,” Terrence countered. “The Tree holds the key to our way of life. We have every right to defend it.”

A blind man could have seen neither of them were going to budge on the matter so Bryan didn’t press.

“Just help out with the smaller ones before helping us, okay?”

“Got it. Good lu-”

“THE QUEEN!” Someone shrieked.

A fairy Rosetta was trying to make evacuate was pointing at the Heartless, horrified.

“What?” Rosetta asked, confused and scared.

“That monster has Queen Clarion!”

Neither Bryan or Rachel could see what the pixie was talking about. The hourglass appeared to only have dust in it and it was using both of its hands to support itself against the tree as it gulped more dust. Rachel blasted a fireball at it to try and get its attention. The flames lost power before they made contact but the heat wave was enough to make the Heartless turn to see what had disturbed it. Inside the orb of its torso something bright and glowing was trying to get out.

“No more waiting.” Bryan told his sister. Who knew what kind of power that thing was getting from all that fairy magic. Rachel nodded. They both glided as fast as they could to the Heartless.

The Nature’s End Heartless had gone back to its task and didn’t see them coming. Bryan spun rapidly then threw the Bass Blade as hard as he could at it. The key spun like a saw blade and struck the Heartless hard on the back of the head before sailing back to its master. Nature’s End shook its whole body in growling protest. As it turned it received an icy blast right in the face. Now they had its full attention. And it was angry. It flared its wings like a bull elephant about to charge. Now things were going to get ugly.

Bryan dove at it first. As expected, it swung widely at him with both claws. Both swipes missed but it gave Rachel a chance to dive low and nail several hard hits. This continued successfully for a while. One would distract while the other struck. But Nature’s End eventually figured them out. It feigned going after Bryan and back-handed Rachel as she went in for the attack. After recovering from the spinout, it was time to change tactics.

The Heartless had the same idea. It beat its huge wings and started flying in a wide circle.

“We need to keep that thing grounded!” Bryan yelled. “This will take forever if we can’t get that thing to stop moving.”

“Attack the wings!” Rachel yelled back. “I’ll go at it from the front.”

Two figures zoomed passed. It was Tinker Bell and Terrence. The weaker Heartless had been cleared away and they had come back to honor the agreement.

“You heard her, Terrence! Go after the wings!”

Bryan got to work damaging the wings. First he tried with Ice then with Fire, each followed up with a series of brutal blows. Tink and Terrence hit it hard with their pricker maces. They swung hard. Even the tiniest scratch moved them closer to rendering the Heartless flightless. But they all had to watch out. Those wings weren’t like soft, delicate butterfly wings, no. The wings of Nature’s End were hard and not only created a significant gust with each flap, but also felt like getting bashed with a piece of wood if hit.

Rachel stayed as close to its face as she could, blinding it with Fire and Thunder. The Heartless had a hard time maneuvering its long arms so close to its own head without scratching itself by accident. The attacks were having a clear effect. It faltered as it flew and couldn’t figure out whom to attack, the pesky bugs from behind making it hard to fly or the buzzy one up in its face.

Suddenly it flailed its arms hysterically and beat its injured wings so hard everyone was pushed away by the force of the blast. After everyone had righted themselves, they were horrified to see what happened next.

Nature’s End was drawing Pixie Dust from its hourglass body. The fine dust trailed upward in its body. It glowed gold for a moment and to everyone’s horror was completely healed. The damage marks on its wings were gone and it moved with new energy.

“No!” Tinker Bell screamed. “After all our hard work it’s just-just _fixed_ itself!”

“With all the Pixie dust that thing stole, it could heal itself forever.” Terrence said in a panic.

“There’s no way we could weaken it enough before it just heals itself again.” Rachel said to Bryan. “And we can’t waste energy hoping it will forget it has a great reservoir of fairy magic in its belly.”

“Then we have to make sure that it can’t.” Bryan answered. “Terrence, Tink, you two fly around its head to keep it distracted. Rachel and I will break the hourglass.”

The fairies nodded and buzzed away. The Heartless tried to swat at them as they approached but they were too quick and darted out of the way. There were a few close calls but Tink and Terrence would make it through this battle unscathed. Bryan launched his keyblade again at the hourglass. As soon as it had left his hand, Rachel flew after it. The second after the Bass Blade struck the glass Rachel was right behind with a follow-up blow. The noise made was hard to describe but obviously indicated a critical hit had been landed. As soon as the blade was back in his hands, Bryan threw it again. Rachel circled back and was right there to strike again. She followed up again with an icy blast.

The Heartless did not like this treatment at all. It beat its wings hard, blowing all its attackers away. The dust in the glass glowed and moved upward again. Not only did the weak spot in the hourglass heal but sparking red dust showered all over that burned when touched. Tinker Bell tried to swoop in to distract the Heartless but the heat of the cursed dust forced her to back off before her wings burned.

“It’s no good!” Tink cried. “That dust is too hot.”

Both Rachel and Bryan shot out strong Blizzard attacks in attempt to cool the area down. The icy blasts didn’t reach their target before turning into vapor. Their Wind attacks didn’t fare much better. The affected area was just too wide. Worse yet, as the dust fell, tiny black flecks were appearing on the bark. Too much longer the tree might actually catch fire.

Then, suddenly like a diva told to take her place on stage, Vidia reappeared into the fray. She had eight or so Wind fairies with her. She was ready to complete her assigned task.

“Need some back up?” She called as she led her troop.

Flying in a tight formation the fairies dove at the Heartless. They flew in a wide circle around branch and spiraled inward. The dust was swept up and concentrated in a hot funnel. Using their own Wind powers Rachel and Bryan re-directed the molten dust directly at the hourglass. Nature’s End howled and tried to move away from the blast. But the damage had already been done. A searing hot scar appeared in the glass. It wasn’t very big but it was a clear weak spot.

With her fellow Wind fairies Vidia swooped back at the Heartless, creating a tornado aimed right at its face. It didn’t do much damage but it did make it mad. Nature’s End flailed its skinny arms wildly at the fairies, nearly catching a few. When it was distracted, Rachel and Bryan dove fast and hard at the weak spot. The hit was true. Rachel struck hard first and the glass cracked. Bryan followed up and the glass broke apart. Pixie dust spewed out of the hole like an avalanche, showering Bryan in the process. The Heartless flailed and swung its hourglass body hard, catching Bryan and sending him spinning. It tried to use the remaining dust to heal itself but it was too late. Too much of the dust had been lost for it to do much with. By the time Nature’s End could repair the broken glass there was hardly any dust left.

Bryan coughed and sneezed and tried to shake off as much of the excess dust as he could but he still looked like a little star.

“Tink! Terrence!” Rachel shouted. “Get the light fairies!”

Terrence had been checking the dust that had fallen back into the reservoir below. From what he could tell, there was nothing wrong with it. Once he had that confirmed, he followed Tinker Bell to gather the light fairies.

Nature’s End quickly went back to the dust flowing from the tree. It had to get more power. But that, of course, was not an option. Bryan flew above the dust flow and redirected it with Aeroa. It didn’t like that. The Heartless swung its huge claws at him but Bryan was up too high. Nature’s End began to beat its wings, determined to get the dust one way or another. From behind, Rachel came down on it like a rocket with a new trick. She flew down with her keyblade held out in both hands. The gem blazed with fire. She spun. Tendrils of flame danced behind her. With all the speed she could manage Rachel dove at one of its wings. The flames and the force punched a searing hole through the Heartless’ wing. But the wings were still tough. The sudden break in such strong momentum sent Rachel tumbling and rolling on the branch.

Bryan almost went to help her out until she immediately stood up. He concluded she was ok. Rachel wouldn’t have been so hasty to agree. The shock of the impact with the Heartless made her dizzy and she’d landed hard on her right shoulder. Rachel used Cura and most of the aching went away. Still, she wasn’t sure how well she’d be able to use her Keyblade arm. If the battle didn’t end soon the tables may have turned.

Vidia and the other wind fairies had returned and had picked up the task of keeping the dust away from the Heartless. With a big hole in its wing the task was not hard. Bryan was ready for the battle to be over so he was putting in everything he had to end it.

“Alright fairies!” Someone shouted from above. Tinker Bell and Terrence had returned with Iridessa and a dozen or so other Light fairies. Rosetta’s Garden fairies had pushed as many of the leaves out of the way as they could. “Give it to him!”

From a wide circle overhead all the Light fairies pushed bright beams of sunlight directly onto Nature’s End. The Heartless writhed and flailed as it tried to get away from the light. But not only did the fairies continually move the sunbeams, Bryan and Rachel were following its every move with an attack. Then, with one final swooping dive, Bryan and Rachel both threw their keyblades at Nature’s End. The blades crossed, striking the Heartless hard from two sides at the same time. A bright light shone from the point of impact.

 It was over.


	13. Neverland: The First Keyhole

The Light fairies moved the sunbeams back to their usual places and the Wind fairies let the pixie dust resume its normal flow. For a moment, there was a strange quiet. Then someone cheered and the other fairies present followed. One triumphant cry became a roar. Pixies that had been hiding in the high branches flew down clapping and cheering. Pixies that had fled to the ground or nearby trees heard the cheers and shouts of joy and joined in. Rachel and Bryan hovered next to each other, exhausted and in awe of the mass of elated fairies coming in around them. Rachel gave him a sideways look and smiled. He laughed a little and returned the smile. They’d done good.

“The queen!” A voice cried.

The entire throng of pixies turned in the direction of four flying, glowing orbs of light. They came together in a cascade of sparkling dust and a beautiful woman took shape from the glow. She had large golden wings and a gold dress that appeared to be made of pixie dust. It even flowed like the dust from the tree. She looked tired but she had just been trapped within a powerful Heartless. No doubt Nature’s End had been drawing some of its power from her as well as the dust. The fairies all bowed or curtsied to some degree as she passed.

As she approached them, Rachel and Bryan did the same. She looked them over carefully. Tinker Bell rushed to the side of the keyblade wielders. Terrence followed her.

“Queen Clarion!”

“Tinker Bell,” The fairy queen said calmly. “I see these humans are friends of yours.”

“Yes! I mean, well, I know humans aren’t supposed to come to Pixie Hollow and,” Tinker Bell rubbed her forearm nervously and spoke quickly. “But we really needed help and I saw them fight those monsters on other parts of Neverland. I couldn’t stand the thought of those things damaging the Pixie Dust tree so I had Terrence take some of the blue pixie dust to make them small so they could help. Please don’t punish him! It really was all my-”

Queen Clarion held up a hand to stop her.

“A decision that has just saved Pixie Hollow,” She said gently. “The theft of the blue pixie dust and bringing humans to our home will be forgiven. You made a risky call, Tinker Bell, but a wise one.”

If she had been standing Tink probably would have collapsed with relief. The fairy queen looked back to Rachel and Bryan. She smiled.

“You both saved not only me but all of Pixie Hollow. Surely that monster would have eventually damaged the Tree in its attempt to acquire all the pixie dust. If that were allowed to happen, no fairy would ever be able to fly again. No new fairies could ever be born. The spirits within a baby’s laughter would be forever trapped and forced to wander the world, never allowed to take form and discover its true talent. The seasons would never change. The balance of nature would be forever damaged and fall into chaos.  Do you truly understand what a great thing you’ve done?”

“It’s what we were sent here to do.” Bryan said.

“We’re here to try and keep everywhere safe from the Heartless.” Rachel said.

The fairy queen smiled again. “Strong, noble and humble. You really are special humans. I don’t believe there is any way we can thank you that will do justice for what you have done for Pixie Hollow. But I trust a celebratory feast this evening would be a good start?”

Two parties held in honor of their heroism in the same week? How could they say no? The fairies cheered and darted about to spread the word and prepare for that evening. Tink and her friends gathered around for a group hug. Everyone had done wonderfully in each of the parts they had played to fight the Heartless. Everyone was a hero that day.

Suddenly a bright light came from the tree. A shape appeared above the spout of pixie dust. It was the Keyhole! They had been right! Awed gasps and sounds of wonder rippled among the remaining fairies. Rachel and Bryan thought back to what Master Yen Sid had said about closing Keyholes. They had to aim their Keyblade at the Keyhole, focus and the Keyblade would take care of the rest.

Shoulder to shoulder Rachel and her brother pointed Moonlit Majesty and the Bass Blade at the shining Keyhole. The ends of their keyblade shone with a small spark of white light at the end. The light became a beam. The two beams met and became one. When they struck the Keyhole small pulses of light radiated from it. Seconds later, they heard a sound, like the latch of a heavy door closing. The light faded but the shape of a keyhole remained imprinted upon the bark. Rachel and Bryan breathed a long, easy breath. It was over. They could feel it. The heart of Neverland was safe from the forces of darkness. Heartless may return and bring with them their mischief but they would never get their claws on the world’s heart.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	14. Neverland: Celebration and Moving On

The evening’s festivities took place in the glade where the Autumn Revelry was usually held. Come to find out it was in this place where Tinker Bell discovered how to use the Moonstone to make more than double the amount of blue pixie dust created when the light of the blue moon passes through the Moonstone many years ago. It was the special dust that kept the tree flowing strong in the eight-year period between each blue moon.

There was music, lights and dancing. Not to mention a great assortment of food such as berries, nuts, herbs, juices, sparkling spring water, dumplings, muffins and a wide selection of sweet breads. It felt very much like the celebration given to them by the Indians but with a magical touch. Fairies danced to festive music. Not a fairy flew by without a smile. Rachel and Bryan didn’t get a moments peace. Every pixie (and it felt like there were thousands) wanted to thank them personally or shake their hands. Every need was met. Their glasses never got a chance to get half empty. If there were any food items they were partial to, someone was there to make sure they got as much as they wanted.

Light fairies used their magic to create fireworks that lit up the sky with beautiful rainbow colors. Animal fairies conducted choirs of song birds. After the feasting was over tables were cleared away to make room for dancing. Every girl wanted to dance with Bryan but dancing wasn’t his thing. He only managed to get out of it when he joined the music fairies. Terrence, Clank and Bauble were the first in line to share a dance with Rachel. She was more willing than her brother to dance, but it was amusing to watch Clank try to dance with her. He was so much bigger her feet weren’t even touching the ground most of the time. As the dusk turned into night the energy of the festivities didn’t falter. But all good things must come to an end.

 Queen Clarion asked the key bearers to stand before her. All the fairies gathered around, eager to find out what the Queen was about to say. It had to be something special.

“Rachel, Bryan,” She looked down on them kindly. “I stand by what I said before, that there could be no proper way to fully repay the debt of gratitude that Pixie Hollow owes you. But,” She smiled. “I believe I know a gift that may be close.”

An excited murmur rippled amongst the fairies. Gifts were always fun. And Rachel and Bryan understood not all quests would be rewarded so handsomely as Neverland had been so far. Might as well enjoy it while they could.

Queen Clarion waved her hands. Bright trails of pixie dust swirled about. The dust spun tightly and formed two small satchels. The material glistened and moved like a liquid even though it was solid. With another wave of her hands the pouches made of pixie dust also filled with pixie dust. Queen Clarion motioned to another Dust Keeper fairy who brought to her a small box. She opened it and scooped out a tiny handful of blue pixie dust. The queen sprinkled a bit of the blue dust within the pouches and closed them. The pouches stopped glowing. Queen Clarion took one in each hand and presented them to the key bearers.

“For your act of bravery and rescue of all of Neverland, I bestow upon you both the gift of pixie dust for you to take with you on your journey and use as you see fit.”

The fairies gasped in awe. Neither Rachel or Bryan could completely believe it either. But the queen wasn’t finished yet.

“This dust will grant you the ability to fly freely where ever you may go. The blue pixie dust will make this ration last a long time and only require a small amount of dust to enable flight. You will be welcome in Pixie Hollow for all time. Ask what you will of us and if we are able, your requests shall be granted.”

Rachel and Bryan accepted the gift. They wanted so say something to express what an honor this was, but how do you say thank you for a thank you gift?

The fairies of Pixie Hollow cheered so loud it might have rattled the stars. Rachel nudged Bryan in the arm. He was smiling too. They had sealed their first Keyhole. There was no doubt things would not get easier from there on in. But they had that moment. That one perfect moment. Their first great accomplishment. The perfect end to a first journey.

____________________________________________________________________________________

The next morning, Rachel and Bryan were escorted to the edge of Pixie Hollow by their fairy friends and said their goodbyes. Clank cried.

“Hey,” Bryan said looking around. “Where’s Tinker Bell?”

“That’s a good question.” Rosetta said. “It’s not like her to just disappear at times like this.”

“Now that I think about it,” Silvermist said thoughtfully. “Did any of you see her during the celebration? At least the last half of it?”

“I saw so many fairies last night it was hard to tell.” Rachel answered.

“I think I saw her leave a while before Queen Clarion gave you two your special pixie dust pouches.” Iridessa said.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Vidia asked sharply.

“Well she looked funny. Like she was anxious or something. I thought maybe she’d eaten a bad berry and went home sick.”

“She’ll turn up.” Fawn said. “She always does.”

“She was the one who found them in the first place.” Terrence reminded. “For her it probably isn’t good-bye just yet.”

“Yeah, we still have to say one last good-bye to Peter Pan and the Lost Boys before we move on.” Bryan said.

“Besides, it’s not like we’ll never see you again.” Rachel added.

They crossed the border of Pixie Hollow and resumed their normal size. On their trek through Neverland’s forest they didn’t cross paths with a single Heartless. Perhaps the shock of their leader’s defeat sent the lesser heartless running. Not like there was anything to complain about. A break wasn’t unwelcome.

But the reception back at Hangman’s Tree was far from what they could have expected. The Lost Boys were in a frenzy.

“What’s going on?” Rachel asked when they got close. “What’s the matter?”

“YOU’RE BACK!”

“HELP!”

“Mayday!”

“It’s awful!”

“Emergency!”

“You’ve got to do something!”

“Slow down, guys. What happened?” Bryan said.

It took several minutes to decipher what had happened. Every Lost Boy was shouting in panic at once, each saying the same thing but in different words or telling the entire story of what happened. Bryan had to yell “QUIET!” and startle them into silence before they could hear the story with some coherency.

“That mean pirate Capitan Hook kidnapped Wendy!”

“Pan went after her and hasn’t come back.”

“Tinker Bell came by and when she learned what happened she followed them!”

“Now they’re all gone!” 

Now if that wasn’t a serious mood damper. John and Michael were sent home with the promise that the key bearers would do everything they could to find her and return her home safely. Rachel went back to Pixie Hollow to pass along the information. Fairies, Lost Boys and the key bearers scoured all of Neverland. No nook, hole or inch of coastline went unchecked but still they found nothing.

Rachel and Bryan sat on a large rock in the midst of the tall grass where they had fought their first challenging Heartless in Neverland.

“I don’t think they’re here.” Rachel said. “Between the lot of us there is no inch of this world we haven’t covered.”

“Do you think it’s possible this Hook guy can go to other worlds too? That would explain why we can’t find him. He’s not on this world anymore.”

“I guess it’s too early in the game to put limits on what is possible. But that adds a whole new degree of difficulty doesn’t it?”

“I know. If he’s kidnapped Wendy and gone to another world…” Bryan trailed off. There was no need to elaborate on what they both knew. But there were other worlds that needed their help too. And they had to tell the Lost Boys they had to go. They would of course keep an eye and ear out for this Capitan Hook and bring Wendy, Peter and Tink home should they find them.

The Lost Boys had full confidence Rachel and Bryan would succeed and said good-bye without begging or tears. Like Hermes had promised, he came when Rachel and Bryan called from the ledge on the mountain. Hermes asked them where they wanted to go next. There were plenty of new places to discover. But they asked to go back to the Mysterious Tower. Maybe Master Yen Sid would know how they could find Wendy.


End file.
